Indie director Tom DiCillo and actor Michael Pitt played nice on stage at the Gen Art Cinema Circle premiere of the paparazzi-themed film Delirious last week at the Tribeca Grand in Manhattan. Then afterward, away from the crowd, the director tore the actor—best known for his Kurt Cobain-inspired character in Gus Van Sant's Last Days—a new one.
Pitt didn't show up for red-carpet arrivals but appeared on stage at the panel discussion that followed. Pitt praised the script. DiCillo (director of Living in Oblivion) told the audience that the 26-year-old Pitt, who plays a homeless hunk, came up with the idea of jumping out of a dumpster in the film. DiCillo did share this tidbit: "This is the first time that I have seen Michael Pitt in a year-and-a-half. Okay, I think he gives the performance of a lifetime.... And it means more than anything that he came here tonight ... to support this film."
After the onstage niceties, however, Radar prodded DiCillo about Pitt's red carpet no-show. "He's an idiot," Dicillo said. "I can't go into it right now. I had no idea he was gonna show up. Of course, I invited him, but he said he wasn't gonna come. Beyond comprehension. He's an idiot."
Pitt's explanation for his partial absence (and sudden appearance): "I had band rehearsal," he explained. His band is called Pagoda. And practice, it seems, is important.