Brad Pitt captured the hearts of audiences with his tough stuntman character Cliff Booth in the 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. However, there were moments on set where director Quentin Tarantino clearly established who was in charge. In an interview at Cannes, Pitt's co-star Bruce Dern shared a tense dialogue that occurred between the Oscar-winning duo.

In the film, Dern plays the blind ranch owner George Spahn. In one scene, Pitt's Booth character wakes Spahn to check if he is okay. Dern noted that he added an improvised line in this scene. "When Brad Pitt woke me up, I was in bed and a bit dazed. I said, 'I don't really know what's going on,'" Dern expressed, adding that Pitt stopped the camera.

Dern pointed out that Tarantino's expression was extremely serious in response to this situation, recounting that the director asked Pitt, "Brad, what did you do?" After Pitt's response, "I stopped the camera," Tarantino told him, "Never stop the camera again, or you'll die in this business. This is my territory. Don't stop the actions," he said.

Afterward, the crew continued with the scene, and Dern added a different improvised line: "I don't know you, but you touched me today. You came to visit me, and now I need to go back to sleep." Dern was at Cannes to premiere director Mike Mendez's documentary Dernsie. No comments have yet been received from representatives of Tarantino and Pitt.