MovieChat Forums > Living in Oblivion (1995) Discussion > Is Chad Palamino a Brad Pitt Parody? Vo...

Is Chad Palamino a Brad Pitt Parody? Vote Here.

posted 18 years ago by skybridge999
52 replies | jump to latest

Is Chad Palomino a parody of Brad Pitt?

Vote Yes or No.

If Chad Palamino's character was based on Brad Pitt, I don't think Tom DiCillo is going to publicly admit it. If you want to believe it's based on Brad Pitt, look only to the fact that Mr. DiCillo wrote the script for "Living in Oblivion" and had directed only one feature film before: "Johnny Suede," starring Brad Pitt.

Interestingly, both films also feature a male little person in a dream sequence, so maybe one would want to find out if the director had a "falling out" with the little person featured in "Johnny Suede."

If you don't want to believe it, look to the fact that Mr. DiCillo had worked on several feature films as a cinematographer before directing "Living in Oblivion," so he had had experiences with several leading men.

Mr. DiCillo discusses his experiences directing "Johnny Suede" in a book entitled, "My First Movie: Twenty Celebrated Directors Talk About Their First Film" by Stephen Lowenstein. In it, Mr. DiCillo says he was unsatisfied with Brad Pitt's interpretation of the role of "Johnny Suede," but then Mr. DiCillo takes full responsibility for not directing Brad Pitt's performance differently. So, apparently it was not all sweetness and light between Tom DiCillo and Brad Pitt.

P.S. Brad Pitt did "Living in Oblivion" after his breakthrough in "Thelma and Louise."

Vote Yes or No: Is Chad Palomino a parody of Brad Pitt?

[–] skybridge999 18 years ago

By the way, I vote YES !!!

[–] suckerdwsp316 18 years ago

Is Chad Palomino a parody of Brad Pitt?

Vote Yes or No.
------------------------------------------------------
uh, yes!

[–] bomberpete 18 years ago

I vote no. "Johnny Suede" was made before "Thelma and Louise" made Pitt a star.

11 years ago, I directly asked Tom DiCillo at a preview for "Living In Oblivion" if Chad Palomino was a Brad Pitt parody.

He denied it and said "no, not at all, though I can understand why you'd think that." In fact, DeCillo claimed to have offered Pitt the role before LeGros but he had turned it down because of his "Legends of the Fall" obligations.

Whether that's spin or what really happened, I'd consider DiCillo's response the authoratative statement.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] lisaVIII 18 years ago

No.

It's also in DiCillo's filmmaker's diary that Pitt was offered the part of Chad.

[–] popedon1 18 years ago

Just because Pitt was offered the part doesn't mean it isn't based on him. If he were that light-weight in real life, he wouldn't know he's parodying himself. It's called "irony".

[–] popedon1 18 years ago

Just because Pitt was offered the part doesn't mean it isn't based on him. If he were that light-weight in real life, he wouldn't know he's parodying himself. It's called "irony".

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] lisaVIII 18 years ago

Oh, don't listen to me, I'm just going on DiCillo's word...

[–] outlaw-bobbiejo 18 years ago

"Oh, don't listen to me, I'm just going on DiCillo's word..."

If the truthful answer was 'yes', do you think DiCillo would admit it openly?

[–] whiteelephantprod 17 years ago

As someone who has worked with Brad Pitt, I vote YES.

[–] the sphynx 15 years ago

Ah, but WHEN did you work with Pitt? He wasn't a big star yet when this movie was filmed (presumably around 1993). See my later post in this thread.

[–] spartian05 16 years ago

The answer is yes.

[–] joedolinsky 18 years ago

I saw the movie last night. I loved it and I thought it caught the craziness that is experienced on set. But as for the Chad character...I never saw the character as a "Brad Pitt" type but merely as the embodiment of the stereotypical egotistical actor.

[–] dustnation 17 years ago

Why did Pitt show up at the Premiere?

[–] cutelittlepenguin 17 years ago

He also says that James did base his mannerisms on another actor that he had recently worked with before filming Living in Oblivion.

I took a quick peek at some of the movies James did and here is a quick but not complete list of actors he worked with in 1995/94 (at least the movies' release dates says 1995 or 1994)

Steven Weber
Kurt Fuller
Esai Morales
Alexis Arquette
Campbell Scott
Matthew Broderick
Andrew McCarthy
James Russo
Dermot Mulroney
John Cusack
Jeremy Piven

I can totally see Steven Weber or Andrew McCarthy having those mannerisms.

[–] dustnation 17 years ago

wouldn't think Dermot Mulroney should be in there...
Same for Campbell Scott.

[–] russass 17 years ago

Youre right skybridge,
I just had the privelage of attending a lecture by
DiCillo and he told me the same thing.

[–] mediablitz-1 17 years ago

The part of Chad was written with Pitt in mind to play the part - not based on his personality or character. It is easy to see that Pitt could have played the part quite well and it would have complimented his strengths as an actor.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] xffanatic_4ever 17 years ago

Yea, the dvd commentary says Legros based how he played it on an actor he had just worked with...with that in mind, I wouldn't rule out Jeremy Piven based on that list. Over-the-top, annoying, egotistical, and yet utterly talentless. Reeks of him. Scott, Cusack etc. actually have talent...Piven has made a career out of playing a sarcastic loser, and now just does Ari Gold in every movie he manages to get cast in. Tough to say though. Piven was never a pretty boy like Chad; sounds more like McCarthy maybe. Dunno. But you actually had the same idea as me; look up Legros' co-stars around the time. You saved me some work. I was hoping it'd be less choices though. It also could just be some second rate guy that wasn't even that big a character, but just tried to pretend he was, so...kinda tough...btw, that's a NO on Pitt.

"My drugs are red, white, and blue"

[–] cyndigill 16 years ago

This is the world's worst kept secret... I saw Living when it was released...

of course its Brad... (rhymes with Chad).. it was the only film after Johnny Suede.. and Tom is famously interviewed by Time Out New York ..stating that Brad pursued him... cos he wanted credibility by doing indie work blah blah blah... and that for Tom it was the worst experience of his life... this of course is before Brad did Seven... everyone matures... but I can't believe that anyone wold think it was not him.

We all were young .. and may not have been on our best behavior at all times.. for every gig.

Legros is full of crap..... even his bio mentions the resemblance.

[–] BadWebDiver 16 years ago

No.

James Le Gros said he based the character on a big star he'd worked with previously, so I checked his filmography.

I'm guessing he's using bits (or all) of Dylan McDermott, Andrew McCarthy, Matthew Broderick, Heather Graham and/or Jenifer Jason Leigh.

I am - SUPERFLUOUS!!!

[–] the sphynx 15 years ago

Nope. Patrick Swayze.

[–] Soulpower2 16 years ago

Jan 14th, 2008

Hey Chet,
Thank you so much for being the first to ask my favorite question. Here are the facts:

Brad was great to work with on Johnny Suede. He was very intelligent and he cared very much about adding as much dimension as he could to his performance.

When I wrote the script for Oblivion I drew upon many, many actors I’d encountered–some in films, some on stage, some from the numerous total *beep* lunatics I meet in acting classes. But, I did not base the character of Chad Palomino on Brad. In fact for 5 days in 1994 Living In Oblivion was a “go” picture with Brad playing the part. He loved it and was all set to shoot when he had a schedule conflict with doing press for Legends of the Fall.

James Legros was walking by Catherine Keener’s house when I was on the phone telling her this. She yelled out to him that we were making a movie and asked him if he wanted to be in it. Legros said, yes. That’s how he was cast.

I found out later he based his performance on Patrick Swayze.

When the film went to Sundance in 1995 a rumor got started that I was too inexperienced to deal with as cleverly or forcefully as I should have. As a result, the rumor spread. I explained my error to Brad and he appreciated my honesty. In actuality it is understandable how he could have been hurt by it. As far as he knew we left Johnny Suede as friends.

I’ve spent considerable time over the years trying to correct this mistake. I wrote a letter to Entertainment Weekly which they never published. People want to believe it so they do.

So, there you have it.

best,
Tom

[–] 16 years ago

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