Actor Brad Pitt is reportedly eyeing his former wife and actress Angelina Jolie’s lookalike Ella Purnell.
Purnell, 21, played the young version of Jolie’s character in 2014’s Maleficent.
Pitt was so “blown away” by her work in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and Churchill that the 53-year-old “jumped at the chance” to work with Purnell via his production company, Plan B, for Sweetbitter, reports variety.com.
Sweetbitter is based on a novel about a New York City waitress.
“Brad had Ella in mind from the get-go. He went out of his way to cast her. Ella is incredibly flattered by all the attention she’s getting from Brad. She’s told friends he’s always been her No. 1 celebrity crush,” said a source.
According to the source, the camaraderie has not gone down well with Jolie as she is “furious about Pitt’s interest in Purnell and her being cast on Sweetbitter. She absolutely hates that Pitt is cavorting with someone who played the teenage version of her in a film”.
The source also pointed out that Jolie has noted that Purnell was only five years older than 16-year-old Maddox, one of the six children she shares with the War Machine actor.