Michael C. Pitt: Meeting the Challenge

The Dreamers, Boardwalk Empire, I Origins, Seven Psychopaths, The Village… it’s quite the lineup of movie titles. Michael C. Pitt knows how to pick projects, challenge characters, and expose their deepest flaws on the screen. In his new film Day of the Fight, directed and written by his friend and colleague, Jack Huston, he once again delivers the same, reminding us that none of us are perfect, and that is in fact, totally fine.

Michael C. Pitt stars alongside true New York movie veterans; his dad is played by Joe Pesci, his Uncle by Steve Buscemi, and his boxing coach by Ron Perlman. The audience sees the relationships between these characters in their rawest form, which contributes to this movie becoming something we rarely see nowadays. Pitt doesn’t only keep busy on screen, he also makes music and stands on the other side of the camera, directing short films and music videos. 

FRONTRUNNER sat down with Pitt to talk about his desire to be challenged by directors, how childhood abuse manifests in adulthood, his wish to avoid superhero movies unless it’s a rent issue, and, last but not least, the power of cats. 

Do you mind if I smoke? 

Of course not.

No one should smoke. Where are you?

I’m in London.

Are you British? The British scare me.

No, but why is that?

I think it might be because I’m part of them. Pitt is a British name. I don’t know why, but I get a little nervous.

Congratulations on your new film, Day of the Fight. It’s very stylish, and it’s black and white! How did you get involved with the film? 

My very good friend and collaborator, Jack Huston asked me to make the film. Well, he didn’t ask me to make the film… It’s a weird question because normally I know how to answer, but when people ask about Day of the Fight, the film chose me. Did I really just say that? It sounds so silly, but it did. Jack is my good friend and colleague. We had done some great work together on Boardwalk Empire, and he said he wrote this for me. I didn’t really believe him. He said, I have this idea, then a year went by, and he sent me a synopsis. Another year went by, and we would talk about the project. I didn’t fully think that I was going to do it or that he was going to get it done. You know? But here we are, and we made a film.

The film’s protagonist, Mike is such a tortured soul, but also full of heart. I was wondering what discussions you had about developing his character and making him lovable but also so beyond flawed. 

A great director challenges you. Jack challenged me with an extremely flawed character, who I would say is past redemption, because of what he has done in life. That’s a good challenge. You go from there. That’s a difficult challenge. We can use the metaphor of a boxing coach. A great boxing coach challenges you and gets something out of you that may seem impossible to you, but they know you can do it. They want you to succeed. That’s probably what he did.

There are so many paternal figures in the film who your character comes across. Mike’s dad (Joe Pesci) is an abusive man, yet Mikey decides to choose boxing as a sport, which also resembles violence. What do you think is the correlation between the two, and how did his upbringing affect his present?

I don’t pretend to understand any other man’s story. Yes, he has an abusive father, which we’ve seen before. What was important to me was that Mike admitted all the abuse, trauma, and every piece of bad luck. Everything bad that he did, was to put a subtext of great love. I thought that was like life. The two-dimensional way to play that scene was just to say fuck you – sorry, excuse my language – you’re just not a good man. There are elements of that, but there’s also a lot of love. When I was taught the craft of acting, it was always to not judge your character. What’s important, is humanity. It’s for the audience to decide and judge and not for the actor. It’s true that it’s not so easy to keep your judgments out of your character. 

Can we briefly talk about cats? Specifically, the cat in the film. How do you feel about working with animals on set and the way the animal gives another layer to your character? 

You are asking about the cat?

Yes. Of course. 

Come say hello. Wait, that’s my dog, not my cat.

I can see. 

It’s interesting what you said about the cat, yet all I could think about is people’s obsession with cat videos. What’s also interesting is that the cat is actually an important character because there’s a tenderness that you see within that character very early on when he interacts with the animal. You can tell a lot about a person’s culture based on how they treat their animals. I think there’s some truth in that. Animals are a bit like children. They don’t lie, and they don’t listen to you. So, when you play against them as an actor, they can expose you. So easily. We learn a lot about Mikey through his cat. I now feel embarrassed. I totally forgot about the cat. The cat was a little difficult to work with. A little demanding, but people would say that about me, so I don’t want to say anything bad about the cat. We were a good match.

It’s hard to imagine you ever taking on a part in a superhero movie. 

Why is that? 

Independent cinema seems to match you so well. Is it possible that you care too much about the arts to stand in front of a blue screen for 8 months? 

A cool indie superhero? Maybe that would work? 

Absolutely? It is nice to see some actors being so passionate about the art of filmmaking. Is that something you think about when you pick your roles and the people you work with?

It is absolutely something I think about. A lot of times, I feel like it’s a curse. 

Why is that? 

No one actually sees what roles you turn down. They only know what you take. That’s not the only reason. The craft of acting – now I’m rolling my eyes on myself – opened my eyes to humanity. I became a better person when I was doing it. When it’s done well and the acting comes from a certain place, it’s beautiful. I don’t see a lot of superhero movies where people are doing that, although I don’t want to judge. You might see me trying it one day, and hopefully, you will feel happy that I can pay my rent. I love culture. I’m a dreamer, and I’ve been one since I was a little kid. It’s important to me. If you don’t have that, things just feel empty, sad, and lonely.