Remember Marla Singer, the emo Fight Club character played by Helena Bonham Carter? Apparently, there was some drama behind the casting decision for the part in the 1999 tale of anarchy and cool jackets.
First, actress Janeane Garofalo may or may not have been set in the role—depending on who you ask. (Garofalo says Fight Club star Ed Norton cost her the part; Norton denies it.) Then Courtney Love came along, which is where our new tale of beef begins. On a recent episode of WTF With Marc Maron, Love said that she was locked as Marla Singer before Fight Club even received a studio green light. So why the eventual turn to Helena Bonham Carter? Love says that Brad Pitt, who starred opposite Norton, booted her out, because she wouldn't let him go forward with a Kurt Cobain biopic. Speaking to Maron, Love recounted a pitch meeting gone wrong—where she said that during a meeting between herself, Gus Van Sant, and Pitt, the actor pitched his Cobain film. "I went nuclear," Love said of the discussion. "I don’t do Faust. Who the fuck do you think are?"
Not too long after, Love says that Pitt had her fired from Fight Club—and it was Norton who had to tell her the news. "He starts sobbing, and he was like, ‘I don’t have the power!" Love recalled, adding that the Pitt-as-Cobain drama didn't stop there. She said that Cameron Crowe once said to her, "Brad Pitt was put on this Earth to stalk you for Kurt, which has been going on since 1996."
Now, can someone get Brad Pitt's side of the story? Please and thank you.
