Brad Pitt lost a small fortune in fight scenes on the set of summer blockbuster TROY - after he devised a fine system for clumsy swordsmanship.

Pitt and pal Eric Bana took part in one of movie history's greatest fight sequences ever in the film and spent weeks rehearsing and choreographing their movements to make sure no one got hurt.

And when the fight scene was filmed, Pitt added an extra incentive to get it right - but found he was the one who suffered the most. He says, "These things (swords) are fake but they still hurt, so you've gotta make sure you get out the way; you gotta make sure we're accurate.

"We devised a kind of incentive not to take each other's heads off, that we would have to pay - whoever hit the other guy would have to pay him $50 for a slight hit and $100 for a heavy hit.

"It was $750 to Eric. I hit him a few times, and I had to pay myself $200!"

05/05/2004 02:41