Brad Pitt and crew get a whiff of WWII tank 'Fury'
WASHINGTON — There were times while filming when David Ayer actively avoided getting close to the cast of his new World War II drama Fury.
Not because of the writer/director's personal issues, though — it was more because Brad Pitt and Ayer's other core actors had been sitting in their tank a little too long.
"It smelled so bad," Pitt recalls in a group interview with his castmates prior to the movie's premiere in the nation's capital. He allows, however, that "by Day 3, you don't notice" things like body odor.
Ayer still did. "You get near the hatch," he says, "and it's like, 'Dude, really?' "
In theaters Friday, Fury is set in Europe in April 1945, near the end of the war. It focuses on the American crew of a Sherman tank trying to survive deep in the heart of Nazi Germany.
Each man has his role, as did each actor. Jon Bernthal's hands bled hoisting ammo as the loader Grady. As the driver Trini, Michael Peña learned to handle a vintage double-clutch tank. Shia LaBeouf's Boyd is the gunner and group's spiritual center, nicknamed "Bible." And Logan Lerman plays Norman, the frightened rookie thrown into the violent madness of war.
The guy responsible for all these men is tank commander Don "Wardaddy" Collier (Pitt), a study in leadership and in the paradox faced by a military leader, Ayer says. "He loves them and wants them to live, but at the same time he has to expose them to danger."
Instead of making a conventional war movie centered on an important battle or event, Ayer focused on a slice-of-life tale on the theme of soldiers paying a high price in war, both physical and emotional.
They met with real-life "tankers" from World War II about what it was like — LaBeouf admits it was "heavy" watching a former British tank commander stand on a Sherman for the first time since 1945. The veteran's reaction? "Like a gleeful smile with watery eyes."
They all talked the constant lack of sleep, exhaustion and the wear and tear on their psyches, Pitt recalls. "When the movie begins, you feel that from us. You don't feel like we just put on our uniforms."
A strong sense of brotherhood among tank crews was another hallmark, Peña adds. "There's a lot of love going, and we tried to capture that."
The cast also went through a week-long "boot camp" and a longer pre-production process that brought them together as a team and gave them perspective on a soldier's journey. So the first day on camera "was really day 60 and it just felt like another day," says Pitt.
"It's a tough world to map out," Lerman adds, "and a tough world to live in for five months. Each day was a victory."
They performed in tight quarters, with a tank interior built in a makeshift studio that was only enlarged a little from actual specifications so they could fit a camera into the tight space.
Pitt was up in the turret, with LaBeouf right next to him and Bernthal close enough to smack if need be. Then there was a drop-down where the only thing separating Lerman and Peña was an engine.
"It is amazing how well you get to know each other, five men in a tin can," Pitt says.
Like putting your head underwater, he says, "there's something that feels safe about it and quiet and above the hubbub of a set. It was kind of nice actually, just staying in there. We'd just (talk) and smoke and stink and have a laugh."
Adds Bernthal: "We're a different group of guys, we come from all over, but we really did bond as a family, for better and for worse."
