Actor Brad Pitt was told to “wrap it up” by a city official during his heartfelt plea in support of funding for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art renovation this week. Pitt, a lead man in the upcoming Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, and Diane Keaton appeared before the L.A. County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to back the art museum team, which was asking for $117.5 million in county funds to help finance an overhaul.
The video footage from the hearing shows County Supervisor Janice Hahn telling Pitt to “wrap it up” after he exceeded the time allotted for his plea. Pitt praised the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor calling him “one of the great architects of our time.”
“He is an architect that builds from the soul, for the soul. I can’t say enough about him. I see my time has expired. I could go on for another hour,” said Pitt. Talking over the 55-year-old Hollywood star, Hahn smiled and said, “it gives me great pain to say wrap it up, Mr. Pitt. It kills me to say that. Wrap it up!”
“We actors suffer from verbosity,” replied Pitt, who continued on in his plea, as Hahn laughed. “I ask you to take a leap of faith … in the vision for the collection and the future and how we move through this museum. I think it’s going to be a gem for everyone… And I’m gone!”
“We only do one take here. Thank you so much for being here,” Hahn responded, laughing.
Keaton, 73, also spoke at the hearing, but was much less verbose than Pitt. “I’m so excited for this … I hope that you’ll vote for it and I think you will because it’s worth it,” she said. And Keaton was right. The board voted unanimously to provide funding.
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is the largest art museum in western U.S., displaying more than 140,000 objects. The gallery’s lavish renovation is expected to cost $650 million, with much of the money coming from private donations. Last year, David Geffen, a co-founder of DreamWorks Animation, pledged $150 million to the project.
