Brad Pitt Nearly Quit Mr. and Mrs. Smith — Was Nicole Kidman the Reason?

Here is one of those great Hollywood almosts: the movie that made Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie a thing nearly did not have Brad Pitt in it. The casting on Mr. & Mrs. Smith was a revolving door for a minute, and the whole project wobbled hard before it found its final duo.

How we got from Pitt and Kidman to Pitt and Jolie

Originally, the plan was Brad Pitt opposite Nicole Kidman. Doug Liman was directing, it was a slick spy-action romance, and on paper the pairing made sense. Then schedules got in the way. Kidman was already deep into The Stepford Wives, and her calendar did not line up with Pitt's. With her out, production stalled. Pitt, seeing the movie drifting into limbo, stepped back too.

One more wrinkle: producer Arnon Milchan has said the real issue might have been that Pitt and Kidman just did not click on camera. Whether it was timing, chemistry, or both, the studio started hunting for a partner who could match Pitt's energy.

Enter Angelina Jolie (and Brad comes back)

Plenty of big names were floated after Kidman exited — Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett, even Catherine Zeta-Jones. None stuck. Then Angelina Jolie signed on, and everything shifted. Pitt returned, the cameras rolled, and the movie found its spark.

On screen, that pairing was, well, obvious. The chemistry is the whole pitch of Mr. & Mrs. Smith — marital bickering meets gunplay — and with those two, it pops. The film landed in 2005, was a global hit, and accidentally launched one of the most headline‑magnet relationships of the 2000s.

The aftermath: Brangelina

After release, the off-screen connection went public fast. The portmanteau arrived (of course), and Brad and Angelina spent years as the ultimate tabloid-era power couple before their relationship ended in 2019.

Nicole Kidman, who has been there, had thoughts

Having lived through her own megawatt marriage, Kidman once explained what that level of attention can feel like. It is a good read on the intensity of what Pitt and Jolie went through.

If you really focus on each other and you are in that bubble, it is very intoxicating, because it is just the two of you. And there is only one other person that is going through it.

So it brings you very close, and it is deeply romantic. I am sure Brad and Angelina have that — because there is nobody else that understands it except that person who is sleeping right next to you.

— Nicole Kidman, to Vanity Fair

Quick facts

• Movie: Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), directed by Doug Liman
• Main cast: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Vince Vaughn, Adam Brody, Kerry Washington, Keith David
• Rotten Tomatoes score: 60%
• Runtime: about 2 hours
• Originally eyed pairing: Brad Pitt and Nicole Kidman; Pitt briefly walked after Kidman left
• Other names considered before Jolie: Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett, Catherine Zeta-Jones
• Streaming (US): Netflix, right now

Would a Pitt/Kidman version have worked? Maybe. But once Jolie stepped in and Pitt rejoined, the movie locked into the exact tone it needed — playful, combative, and a little dangerous — and the rest is very public history.