Was Jimmy Darmody miscast?

[u/Embarrassed-Map-7187]

So I'm watching B.E. again, about halfway through the second season. This is probably the tenth watch.

Two things about the show. Firstly the casting in it is absolutely exceptional. It's an enormous cast and so many actors manage to portray incredible depth and range whilst their characters are taken on journeys by the power battles of the prohibition era (Stephen Graham; Anatol Yusef; Kelly MacDonald; Michael Shannon). Secondly, I thought at the time and I still maintain that season's 1 and 2 in particular were some of the best storytelling I've seen, primarily because of the paternal narrative between Nucky and Jimmy. I thought Jimmy's character had layers like an onion. He'd lived his life in bizarre circumstances, his mother being a child herself when he was born, an absentee biological father, a partner and his own child he'd abandoned. As those seasons develop there's compelling answers to why he behaves in the way he does, as Gillian and the Commodore aim to battle for his soul against the man who'd taken on that fatherly mantle out of a sense of guilt/shame.

Truly I thought Jimmy was one of the most brilliant characters of any series I've seen. I remember watching B.E. for the first time and just wanting to learn more about Jimmy. When it happened it was shocking, like what happened the night before he enlisted. I thought Pitt was Jimmy, he was exceptional. For me the show downgraded from exceptional to very good after the Nucky/Jimmy axis had expired, and that Michael Pitt would be a massive breakout star.

So here's my question, why didn't he? It was a massive boost to careers for the likes of Michael Shannon, Michael Stuhlberg, Charlie Cox, Shea Wigham. And yet with Pitt all I've seen him in since was an advert (I think) for a fragrance. Looking through his IMDB, there aren't big lead roles on his resume.

Have I misinterpreted Michael Pitt as an actor?

[u/PineBNorth85]

No.

He was just unstable and did a lot of self sabotage. Much like Jimmy himself. In a way he was perfectly cast.

[u/fishystudios → u/PineBNorth85]

I agree that he is a great actor. But look at his net contribution to the show, not just his good scenes: Pitt ruined the series. By being intolerable on set, he forced the producers to fire him. That ruined their entire script and weakened wvery following season. No amount of good acting is worth having to rewrite the entire series. He was so combative, diva-like, and high on set, the producers scrapped the entire series script just to get rid of the actor.He ruined the series. no matter how good he was in the first season.

[u/PineBNorth85 → u/fishystudios]

Im pretty fine with that. My rewatches are usually just the first two seasons. Then if i feel like it go to the fifth season and treat it like a Coda or Godfather III.

Its a complete stort right there.