People.com Entertainment Movies Brad Pitt Says He's 'Hardly' an Action Star in 'Bullet Train' : 'I'm the Buffoon in This Film' "It's really, really fun. Because all the fights are based around the humor," Brad Pitt told PEOPLE Monday at the L.A. premiere of Bullet Train, out Friday By Jen Juneau Jen Juneau Twitter Jen Juneau is a digital news writer for PEOPLE. A '90s teen and horror film connoisseur, she started at the brand in 2016, after a decade of working as a technical writer and then moonlighting as a journalist beginning in 2013. Originally from New Orleans, Jen grew up both in NOLA and Florida and eventually attended the University of Central Florida in Orlando (still her home base!), where she earned a bachelor's in English/technical communication, with a minor in magazine journalism. People Editorial Guidelines and Alex Cramer Published on August 2, 2022 12:52 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Brad Pitt is no action star — at least according to him! The 58-year-old actor chatted with PEOPLE on Monday at the Los Angeles premiere of his upcoming action comedy Bullet Train, where he said he was "hardly" an action star. "I'm the buffoon in this film," Pitt joked. Instead, he gave kudos to director David Leitch, explaining that Leitch, 46, "has just got his own vernacular of humor and great action scenes coming from John Wick, Deadpool 2 and now this, and it just [has] that flavor I've never gotten before." "And it's really, really fun. Because all the fights are based around the humor," Pitt said. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories. Brad Pitt in Bullet Train (2022). Scott Garfield Bullet Train Earns Mixed Reviews from Critics: Brad Pitt "Shines" but Movie Goes "Off the Rails" Pitt stars in Bullet Train as an assassin who has just recovered from a case of burnout, returning to his high-stakes job with a somewhat misguided sense of confidence about his fitness for duty. The plot follows competing assassins fighting to the death on a high-speed train. Alongside Pitt, the film also features Bad Bunny, Brian Tyree Henry, Sandra Bullock, Joey King, Logan Lerman, Zazie Beetz and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Bullet Train is based on Kōtarō Isaka's book of the same name. Brad Pitt. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic Asked who slapped him the best in the movie, Pitt told PEOPLE at the L.A. premiere, "I'm going to say Brian Tyree Henry." "I don't know if I want to go on record for that because I think that there's still insurance policies out there," Henry, 40, joked to PEOPLE. "But [Brad] allowed me to do it. ... He is one of those guys that really wants to go full-tilt boogie. So I'm gonna do it util the take is right." RELATED VIDEO: Brad Pitt Has Fun in Paris with Bullet Train Pals Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry Lerman, 30, told PEOPLE that Pitt is "a good fighter" and "just a really athletic person." "Watching him do the choreography and run through the beats. It's a really difficult thing to do," he added. "And there's so much ... there's so many moves to have to remember. You can remember, like, 100 different things in one fight scene." "So to watch him do it elegantly, [it] almost seemed effortless for him to remember it all," Lerman said. "It was really impressive." Bullet Train hurtles into theaters Friday.