10 Iconic Movie Scenes Made Possible By Enforced Method Acting

6. David Fincher Told Ed Norton To Punch Brad Pitt In The Ear Moments Before Shooting - Fight Club (1999)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fSk4ayoHrM Sometimes acting is all about going with what "feels right," and sometimes that means punching Brad Pitt right in his stupid handsome face, because why is he so handsome, anyway, huh? That's going by what Ed Norton did on the set of Fight Club, anyway, a movie about men punching each other into submission in a dingy basement. The scene in question concerns one of the movie's earliest, where Ed Norton's wimpy character is learning how to fight with Brad Pitt's Tyler Durden in a parking lot. The way the scene was supposed to play out? Norton was scripted to throw a relatively meek punch at Pitt's shoulder, which, by the way, they had talked about and planned. According to Norton, director David Fincher walked up to him moments before the take, and whispered: "Hit him in the ear." Norton, being a regular human being, wasn't sure, and cited the fact that he and Pitt didn't really know one another at this point as a way of avoiding the situation. Fincher, a nutcase, said: "Hit him in the ear." Norton took a deep breathe, got into position, and proceeded to guide his fist into Brad Pitt's ear. Pitt's reaction is genuinely hilarious: "You hit me in the ear?!" He sounds rightfully shocked and confused, whilst Fincher, presumably grinning behind the camera, declared himself a genius and went about the rest of his day super-pleased.
 
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