Rob McElhenney, the actor behind It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, shared that he had a role in the action movie The Devil’s Own, starring Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford. But when he watched the film, he found out all his scenes had been cut. He joked, “They were the A players, and I wasn’t even in the game—I ended up on the editing room floor.”
Rob McElhenney talked about his experience on Hot Ones (via ScreenRant), a show where celebrities eat spicy wings while discussing their work. He shared that he was cast in the 1997 action movie The Devil’s Own, directed by Alan J. Pakula, and filmed a few scenes. But his character got cut during editing, and he only found out when he watched the final version with his family and friends.
That was one of the most humiliating and terrible experiences in my life because it was my first acting job in a movie. I got to do a scene with Harrison Ford. I got to do a scene with Brad Pitt. I got to do a scene with Julia Styles, Ruben Blades, all these incredible actors, so it was like four or five different scenes. Then the movie’s coming out, and I noticed that I didn’t get an invite to the premiere or the friends and family screening, but I’m still just starting out. I’m like 19 or 18, and I’m thinking, ‘It’ll be fine.’
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For a year, I’m telling everybody ‘I got this movie.’ Nobody believed me because I hadn’t worked at all or doing anything else. And then we go to the movie, all my friends, everybody, my family bought tickets, and I’m just not in it, at all. They cut me completely out of the movie, didn’t give me a heads-up. They were all A players. I was a D player on the ground. I wasn’t even a player, I was on the editing room’s floor.
Rob McElhenney recently faced a similar situation with Deadpool & Wolverine (2024). He filmed a cameo, but the editors cut it because it didn’t really fit the story, even though the movie is full of cameos that don’t always add much.
The Devil’s Own follows Tom O’Meara (Harrison Ford), a New York cop who invites Rory Devaney (Brad Pitt) to stay at his house. Tom doesn’t know Rory is actually an IRA terrorist named Frankie McGuire, in the U.S. to buy missiles. When Tom discovers the truth, Frankie escapes, and the chase begins.
The Devil’s Own made $140 million at the box office, beating its $86 million budget. Audiences liked it, but critics had mixed feelings. They praised Ford and Pitt’s acting but felt the story didn’t fully answer some tough questions. It now has a 37% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, though many still see it as a solid thriller with two big Hollywood stars at their best.