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Why Are George Clooney and Brad Pitt Chasing a Euphoria Actor Around NYC?

Brad Pitt and George Clooney on location for 'Wolves'.
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You can see a lot while walking around the streets of New York City at night—perhaps too much. Of course, any good New Yorker has honed the art of tuning it out, keeping their head down, and keeping it moving, no questions. Yet, we did have to wonder why Brad Pitt and George Clooney have spent numerous nights over the past two weeks chasing around a tighty-whities-clad Euphoria actor around the streets of Chinatown.

Pitt and Clooney were first spotted filming night shoots alongside Euphoria’s Austin Abrams in Manhattan on January 24th. At first, things seemed pretty standard. Pitt and Clooney were decked out in pretty nondescript outfits, although Abrams’s floral blouse and big silk pants certainly stood out.

Photo by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Image

The bright orange Moncler puffer jacket Pitt was spotted in later that week caught some attention, though it’s unclear if it was Pitt’s personal ensemble or part of the film.

Photo by MEGA / GC Images

The days went on, and things seemed pretty standard. Here are Pitt and Clooney shooting scenes behind the wheel of a BMW.

Brad and George in a BMW

Then, suddenly, photos of Abrams jogging through the winter weather in his underwear started to emerge from the set.

Photo by MEGA / GC Images

Ah, apparently, he’s running either from or to Pitt and Clooney.

Austin, Brad and George.

Obviously, they’re filming a movie, but what’s going on here?

Well, it’s an upcoming thriller called Wolves for Apple TV from Spider-man: No Way Home director Jon Watts. Pitt and Clooney will play two rival fixers who are called in to handle the same job. The Office’s Amy Ryan is the only other cast member publicly attached, though it seems she hasn’t been involved in these night shoots. Lucky her.

Abrams, best known for playing Ethan on that HBO teen show, apparently had to work hard to be the subject of these somewhat embarrassing paparazzi shots (then again, this all seems rather tame compared to what winds up on screen on Euphoria). Deadline calls his role a potential star-maker, and says it was “one of the more sought-after parts for any 20-something actor in town.”

Wolves will also mark Pitt and Clooney’s fifth co-starring gig together. They previously toplined the Ocean’s Eleven trilogy, and both appeared in the Coen Brothers’s Burn After Reading. You could consider this their sixth, if you count Pitt’s cameo in Clooney’s Confessions of a Dangerous Mind back in 2002.

The project was first announced back in September 2021, after a rumored bidding war that also involved Netflix, Lionsgate, and Sony. Though Apple TV won out, it will still get a proper theatrical release. Apparently, Clooney and Pitt demanded that particular stipulation as part of the deal.