It has been 30 years since the release of Se7en, David Fincher's iconic cop thriller starring Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey, and Morgan Freeman, among others. Recently, Pitt talked about what he felt immediately after reading Andrew Kevin Walker's screenplay for the film. Speaking on a recent episode of the podcast Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, the actor said that he was at the nadir of his career at the time the screenplay came to him. "I had hit a point… 1994 was such a bugged out year. I had not-so-great experiences coming off a couple of jobs, and I was not sure what I was doing," he said.
Candidly discussing his undisciplined life at a time when he had "a girlfriend (Juliette Lewis) who is into reptiles," Pitt was seeking a prospective job when his manager and friend Cynthia sent the Se7en screenplay to him. However, the actor revealed that the screenplay did not impress him the first time he read it. Recalling the interaction with Cynthia, Pitt shared, "She says, 'You've got to read this.' I read the first seven pages, I call her up, I go, 'Are you kidding me? The cliche old cop wants out, the young cop comes in and he is looking at his high school football trophies?'"
Despite reading the full script on Cynthia's insistence, Pitt still felt a lack of conviction on it. However, a subsequent meeting with director Fincher inspired Pitt to take on the project. The actor revealed that listening to Fincher discuss films in a certain manner rekindled his passion for cinema.
Se7en stars Pitt as an idealistic homicide detective who acts on impulse, working alongside a more pragmatic and world-weary senior (Freeman). The plot follows their pursuit of a serial killer (Spacey) who preys on his victims in a personal manner.
