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UPDATE: I received a phone call earlier this week that UTA on 
Tuesday fired actor Michael Pitt who plays Jimmy Darmody on the HBO series. “If you decide to post about someone (probably WME) signing Michael Pitt, who is one of the stars of Boardwalk Empire, please note that UTA fired him as a client yesterday because he’s really difficult on set and otherwise.” I felt that Pitt was too small a name to bother posting this bad news (I’d never heard of him) or that he had landed at WME. But since the news of the WME signing is now out there, I thought Deadline readers deserved to have the complete story. I understand that UTA agent Billy Lazarus spent “many years” making Pitt into a working actor. So it’s safe to assume that Pitt must have really pissed off the agency big-time.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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I understand Pitt may be a dickhead, but how is he “too small a name” headlining a top HBO show?
Pitt’s been around for years doing awesome indie movies like HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH and Bertolucci’s THE DREAMERS, and bigger films like THE VILLAGE. And yes, he’s the lead in HBO’s hit TV show.
He is a real talent. Don’t personally know if what UTA says holds water or not. But I have to say, it just kind of makes you look dumb to say you’ve never heard of him. Maybe you need to be getting both sides of the story. And yes, as someone says below, possibly he just didn’t like the new logo and thought it was time to jump ship.
And I’m just a fan, I have no pitt bull in this fight.
First of all, “Real Talent”? come on thats just total BS. Just another over indulged actor, who needs to be schooled in growing up, shutting up, and do the “simple” job he is paid to do. One used car lot, on to the other. This is all just tomorrows fish wrap.
Yeah, because acting is such a simple job. It’s so simple to wait around all day for your scene and then perform, conveying the emotion Pitt has, in front of a bunch of people for 2 minutes, then cut, wait, and have to do it again. It’s just as simple as serving burgers at McD’s, which is I’m sure what you do to make a buck.
You can tell this story is a plant by a journalist wanting to get in good with an agency to get better scoops. It’s just really sad this site is sinking to that state of so-called journalism.
Nikki would make J.J. Hunsecker proud! Way to go.
Let’s be clear here. It’s all Mickey D’s . The point is, is it news worthy? And YES, It is just as simple as you just laid it out. As far as flipping burgers, just as news worthy. Maybe the kid needs to flip burgers, and meditate on just how lucky he is. Its all pretty silly. As far as my job, 53 films, 29 tv shows, 4 series, ect!… lol
enjoy the day 
)
Michael Pitt is an AMAZING actor. He actually read with his girlfriend on tape who auditioned for my trailer which I shot in NYC. I thought he was the best thing I’d ever seen, just reading sides, and I KNEW he was going to hit it BIG. He may have issues, but he is definitely a GREAT actor. I was not wrong in knowing he would hit it big.
I thought Michael Pitt was a great actor in Boardwalk Empire, I hate to see him no longer bring on the series, and I wish they will bring him back. Michael Pitt and Lucky are to me the best actors in the HBO series.
Steve Buscemi headlines that show-not MP. He just does his best impersonation of Leonardo Di C.
UTA “let go” of Matt Weiner before Mad Men because he was so impossible.
Michael Pitt was not fired. Agents work for clients. He was let go. Pitt has huge personal problems that will cause his life to self destruct if he doesn’t address them. It’s a sad situation.
First sober and informed post on this whole fiasco
(it also sounds like a nasty hit job and shouldnt have ever been posted in the first place)
How do you know MP has “huge personal problems”???
I truly believe there are 3 sides to every story..his, hers and the truth.
I wondered if I was the only one who thought that……
seriously, this site has reported on the comings and goings of far less relevant actors.
IF UTA fired every actor- or actress for that matter, who was difficult or a pain in the general ass to work with- they’d have maybe a dozen clients!!!!! THERE ARE 100′S OF THEM OUT THERE…..they think they are so talented it will carry them to the top…..and unfortunate for us- it often does…..HOLLYWOOD IS LINED WITH NASTY PEOPLE WHO LIVE TO MAKE THE NICE GUY MISERABLE.
yeah. and those uta agents are so nice!
without actors, there is NO HOLLYWOOD.
FYI – Pitt has worked with Bertolucci in THE DREAMERS – heard of him?
John Cameron Mitchell in HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH.
M. Night Shymalan in THE VILLAGE.
Oh, and Martin Scorsese in the BOARDWALK EMPIRE pilot.
I think he has some major credits working with some major directors.
That’s pretty sad that you haven’t heard of him. I think that says more about you than him.
Wasn’t he in the Haneke remake of Funny Games too? Yeah, the guys definitely known.
Yeah all those AND starred in HANEKE’S Funny Games American remake – an excellent movie btw. He’s practically an indie darling who works with major auteurs. And they were not small roles – they were leading roles….so much ignorance, i’m surprised Deadline…..
Those were very small roles in those films. Hardly worthy of remembering.
He’s the lead actor in The Dreamers and Last Days, a major supporting character in Hedwig and a co-lead in Boardwalk…hardly small roles.
How many people in the U.S. saw THE DREAMERS? 2? 3? Even less saw LAST DAYS. No one saw Funny Games in the U.S. and saying he’s a “major supporting character” is an oxymoron, especially when using Hedwig And The Angry Inch as evidence of him being a star.
He constantly looks like a guy who needs a hot shower and a shave, not to mention a guy who seems to be constantly trying to fight being a pretty boy by instead wanting to appear like a dirty, garage-band hippy.
I saw Dreamers. I asked my wife and she remembers hearing about it but never saw it. He’s not small-time, especially given the fact that he’s a co-lead in Boardwalk. I’d like this site’s lack of professionalism if it was genuine, but there are now two stories today where Nikkie baselessly trashes talent (Pitt and Jovavich) because it’s obvious that they will never do anything for her while Summit and UTA can give her scoops for years.
I am surprised that Nikki hasn’t heard of him BUT at best he’s the poor man’s Norman Reedus. At least Reedus has been in films like Blade 2 that people actually saw and is a lead player in Walking Dead that gets about three times the audience of Boardwalk Empire.
And who can forget his riveting part in the classic “Silk”?
*snickers*
Don’t forget Gus Van Sant in LAST DAYS
This speaks volumes to the masses that read from this site… I don’t care if this dude was difficult… I produce shows where actors and actresses from time to time are difficult. You learn to work with it… To put these issues out to press are crazy… Who hasn’t had a bad day? DG
Really sad to hear that he’s so difficult on set. But I’d like to know more before placing judgment. Regardless he’s a really good actor and his character on Boardwalk is great. Our family is a huge fan of Boardwalk Empire. One of the best shows out there this season!
I think it’s just sour grapes. An agency fired an actor starring on a popular HBO show because he’s “a pain in the ass” on set? What?
Scorsese seems to like him. Last i checked he had good taste. Nice work UTA
michael pitt is the greatest actor of his generation.
You don’t know him?
You don’t know s@#t!
First of all, agents don’t work for actors. If anything, it’s the reverse. Second, I remember him as the psycho on Law & Order SVU. Now he’s on cable tv. Fuck all that; it’s not tv, it’s HBO BS. It’s not network tv, which means he’s making peanuts and should shut his piehole and be grateful on set.
He just is. Small time, that is. I was never convinced of his acting, actually dreaded that he was going to be in the great cast of B.E., but it seems he had some further training to actually do pretty well the first season. I think they probably had to write his lines to suit his abilities and make him believable at all. I’d actually grown to not just tolerate his Darmody character, but actually enjoyed most of his role, up until he meets Manny in Season II, and has this stupid, improvised grin on his face that took me all the way back to finding him unworthy again. Oh well, Pitt! See ya in the funny pages!
The writing on Boardwalk Empire this season has improved dramatically. I loved the scene with Angela and Richard and Gillian and the commodore.
Definitely agree. Seems like they had a team meeting or something right before the finale and got it together.
This must be the Boardwalk writers doing a circle jerk with these comments. The show is nearly unwatchable. Sadistic and plotless.
Perhaps you’d rather watch the TRANSFORMERS trilogy, instead?
You are an idiot with zero taste. Boardwalk Empire is one of the best shows on TV.
Last ep was cray-cray. I’ve never see that much character & plot development so artfully crammed into one hour.
You’re right on the money. I had quit watching last year because the writing was so predictable and on the nose. But this year,I think, they hired some new writers and the quality of the show has definitely improved.
You must be a writer in the show. It’s terrible.
Heather, I heard that you’re pretty good.
Justin you seem to need some Boardwalk Empire intervention. Turn on Homeland instead and experience some good writing.
The writing on Boardwalk has failed miserably. The show is not engaging. The characters feel unreal and empty. This season is a disaster. After last week I had to say goodbye.
or its safe to assume they’re just saving face – “you can’t fire us, you’ve been dropped!”
Yes. How the hell does an agent “fire” his client. And, although, agents often claim to have “made” an actor, that never happens, either.
There was a disagreement and UTA no longer represents the actor, is what you should have said.
Fortunately for Pitt, agents are REALLY easy to find. Especially when you are key player on a hit show. I doubt he gives a crap what Billy has to say.
Agents fire clients all the time. Definitely not unheard of.
The reason an agency would fire an actor is typically pretty simple, the amount of money he makes the agency does not justify the amount time spent dealing with him.
Agents and agencies are all about the Benjamins. If you get paid big $$$, the agency will put up with a lot of crazy BS; the minute it becomes a zero-sum game, the actor’s out the door.
The thread above suggests that the time and resources expended on MP were not justified by the $ he is making as an actor, not that he’s not a good actor.
Finally, a logically argued point.
Guess he hated the new logo.
it is an odd new logo.
applause
Not the first difficult actor, certainly won’t be the last.
Michael Pitt is a fantastic actor who doesn’t play the Hollywood game. He got his break on Dawson’s Creek or one of those shows and could have been the next “Leo” but decided to stick with low budget indie films and making music. Good for him.
This is what UTA is worried about?
I’d heard of him and I’m not even in the biz. I guess it’s from his starring role in one of the best tv shows in recent memory.
Wow, I wouldnt want to sign at an agency that puts out this kind of information about former clients.
so glad that UTA said this. too many times a client thinks the world revolves around them and they have no gratitude for their representatives. glad lazarus has his dignity and doesn’t have to deal with that.
Michael Pitt is a wonderfully talented actor. I love watching his work. I don’t understand how an agent can say it “fired” someone. They are paid by the client, not the other way around.
Pitt may be a dick but he’s good at what he does. Besides Boardwalk, he was also good in Funny Games and Bully.
Michael Pitt is the next big leading man. I worked at UTA when Michael Pitt was emerging back in 2000 and I never heard of any bad stories about him. It sucks he left his agent after all that grooming, but to say he was fired is a bullshit thing to do. Thats what big pussy baby’s do. Thats what UTA does. C’mon Nikki. You are very bias often even though I love your trade more than any other.
Trust me, there are plenty of stories of his bad behavior that his agents and publicists buried. He’s a bad guy, no matter where he’s he repped.
Talented as he may be, he’s not the next big thing and he’s not going to be a leading man….ever. Too many stories out there over the years of him being difficult to work with. After a while nobody wants to take a chance on you, especially when you’re already not a proven box office draw.
You can’t be the next big thing when you burn that many bridges and keep doing low-budget, indie films. If he was going to be a major star he’d have been one by now.
As an agent at another agency, I commend UTA’s decision. This guy has a terrible reputation and nothing makes life worse than an ungrateful difficult client.
True, but I highly doubt you’re an agent at another agency. I think you’re someone else, trying to save face.
Love the irony of a talent agency firing someone for being “difficult” on the job.
Haven’t talent agencies written the book on being “difficult” at the office? How bad must Pitt have been behaving to stand out as worse than anything that takes place at UTA?
Translation: We Couldn’t Handle Him
My thoughts exactly
Regardless of Mr. Pitt’s merits as an actor or a professional, the headline should state that he was “dropped” not “fired.” Actors do not work for agents, agents work for actors. I know the agents like to make the actors feel as though it is the other way around, but it isn’t. Agents are supposed to work for actors, not vice versa. (Ideally, the two parties work together.) Agents drop actors. Actors fire agents.
But he was Jen’s boyfriend on Dawson’s Creek. HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW THIS?
I was an assistant at UTA and remember a time when this particular actor came by the office wearing a teeshirt covered in blood. He was totally dazed and out of it, and none of us assistants could really figure out what to say to him or do with him in the lobby. His manager had to drive over and get him. The scariest part was that he wasn’t injured or cut anyway. In other words, it wasn’t even his blood. So weird.
Wow
uh-huh. And how could this go on and no one there called the police? This is a BS story.
I remember when Pitt showed up with a severed head to a lunch meeting with my boss! Told him “not to worry about it”. The maitre d had to stuff it into a to go box so other diners wouldn’t be grossed out. So unprofessional.
Fuckin’ hilarious!!!
This is so not even common sense. Pitt obv let, and this is sour grapes.
Wow! Too small a name? Along with Steve Buscemi he carries that show. At first glance I thought he’d been fired from Boardwalk. Thank god he isn’t.
There’s a blind about an actor on this show being written out because of his attitude. How much time has he had on the show so far?
A lot.
Michael Pitt has been around for a while..and I love his work on Boardwalk Empire, especially this season. So many actors are known for being too much to handle, what makes him different? He will learn. I think its a good time to stay neutral.
How does an agency, who you pay, “fire” you? Drop, sure, but fire? Get over yourselves, Jesus.
I was just about to post the same comment. Glad I’m not the only one who finds that ridiculous.
Right. You can’t “fire” someone who isn’t your employee. Agencies don’t hire or fire actors, they get hired and fired by actors. They can choose to stop working with a client, or “drop” them. The fact that your source doesn’t understand this distinction casts doubt on the quality of their info.
exactly! agents love to phrase it this way because they want to frame it that we work for them. it’s a power move, they want to be the alpha dog, it nettles them that they are employees, and that even the lowliest client can fire them. i think it’s a residue of the Mike Ovitz ethos. agents cannot fire clients. they can drop them, refuse to work with them, stop working for them, etc. but this “firing” terminology is a deliberate mis-framing with the goal of gaining power, and as a way to keep clients in line. i’m surprised at you nikki for not calling agencies out on this!
My thoughts exactly… Fired? It’s like saying my realtor fired me… how can that happen when you hire THEM to represent you? That’s just plain blustery ego. Nikki, why publish such nonsense?
Michael Pitt is a reasonably known name, based on his movies (Funny Games, Last Days), though I did not know he was in Boardwalk Empire.