Brad Pitt’s life changed forever when he worked alongside Angelina Jolie in Mr. and Mrs. Smith. But his future might’ve been drastically different if Nicole Kidman stayed on the project.
‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ was almost a Brad Pitt – Nicole Kidman movie
Angelina Jolie initially wasn’t the first actor filmmaker Doug Liman cast opposite Pitt in the spy thriller. Initially, he had Kidman in mind for the lead role. But according to the filmmaker, scheduling conflicts caused him to change plans. Kidman was already shooting The Stepford Wives at the time, and the 2003 feature interfered with her commitment to Smith.
Even Pitt considered walking away from the film. With production delays and casting uncertainties, he informed the director he was dropping out of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Of course, Pitt eventually returned to the project and starred opposite Jolie rather than Nicole Kidman.
But the film’s producer, Arnon Milchan, had a different version of events. According to News AU, Milchan claimed that the Fight Club star turned down Kidman for the role due to a lack of chemistry. This eventually made room for Jolie to take her place.
Pitt’s chemistry with Jolie became the focal point of the movie and the two stars’ personal life. Their affair was well-documented and became tabloid fodder for years. Pitt and Jolie’s relationship began in 2005 and ended with their 2019 divorce.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith led to a whirlwind celebrity relationship between Jolie and Pitt. Kidman already knew what it was like being a part of a power couple thanks to her previous marriage with Tom Cruise. Cruise’s star power during the height of their relationship brought Kidman the kind of attention she might not have been too comfortable with. And she thought Jolie and Pitt could relate.
“If you really focus on each other and you’re in that bubble, it’s very intoxicating, because it’s just the two of you,” Kidman once told Vanity Fair. “And there is only one other person that’s going through it. So it brings you very close, and it’s deeply romantic. I’m sure Brad and Angelina have that – because there’s nobody else that understands it except that person who’s sleeping right next to you.”
Jolie didn’t become Liman’s immediate choice for his film until after he entertained a few other options. Among the list of actors Liman considered was Pitt’s ex-girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow. Liman was fully aware of the history between the pair, which was why he thought they’d make a great team onscreen. But Liman quickly discarded the idea realizing what that could’ve meant for both.
“Think of the spectacle of that,” Liman said. “Fireworks could really fly in that situation. Because I’m sure there’s some s*** one of them was mad at the other one for. You find out what that baggage is and bring it out at the right moment, with the camera rolling. My producers were like, Look, that’s a great idea. But Brad is a human being. Even if he was game for it, it’s wrong for us to put him in a situation where he’s going to have to relive the demons of a relationship. That’s just a little bit too mad-scientist.”
Liman thought about casting others afterward as well. But most people agreed that Jolie was a fitting choice for Mrs. Smith.
“We really liked Cate Blanchett. Around that time, she’d come out with a [magazine-ad] photo spread where she looked like a spy. But she wasn’t available — she was doing The Aviator. Somehow Catherine Zeta-Jones’ name came up, but there wasn’t a lot of unanimity about casting her, as there was about Angelina Jolie,” he said.
