Brad Pitt#In the media

{{Short description|American actor (born 1963)}}

{{Other uses}}

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{{Featured article}}

{{Use American English|date=September 2019}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Brad Pitt

| image = Brad Pitt-69858.jpg

| alt = Brad Pitt in 2024

| caption = Pitt at the 2024 Venice Film Festival

| birth_name = William Bradley Pitt

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1963|12|18}}{{cite web |title=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Brad-Pitt |access-date=2022-07-25 |archive-date=July 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710212037/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Brad-Pitt |url-status=live}}

| birth_place = Shawnee, Oklahoma, U.S.

| education =

| occupation = {{hlist|Actor|film producer}}

| years_active = 1987–present

| works = Full list

| spouse = {{ubl

|{{marriage|Jennifer Aniston|2000|2005|reason=divorced}}

|{{marriage|Angelina Jolie|2014|2019|reason=divorced}}{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|date=July 23, 2021|title=Win for Angelina Jolie as court disqualified judge in Brad Pitt divorce case|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/23/angelina-jolie-brad-pitt-divorce-judge-court|work=The Guardian|access-date=July 25, 2021|quote=The judge already ruled the pair divorced, but separated the child custody issues." [...] "They were declared divorced in April 2019, after their lawyers asked for a judgment that allowed a married couple to be declared single while other issues remained, including finances and child custody.|archive-date=April 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411223835/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/23/angelina-jolie-brad-pitt-divorce-judge-court|url-status=live}}}}

| children = 6

| relatives = Doug Pitt (brother)

| awards = Full list

}}

William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. In a film career spanning more than thirty years, Pitt has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Films in which he has appeared in have grossed over $8.8{{nbsp}}billion worldwide.{{cite web | url=https://m.the-numbers.com/person/730401-Brad-Pitt | title=Brad Pitt - Box Office }}

Pitt first gained recognition as a cowboy hitchhiker in the Ridley Scott road film Thelma & Louise (1991). Pitt emerged as a star taking on leading man roles in films such as the drama A River Runs Through It (1992), the western Legends of the Fall (1994), the horror film Interview with the Vampire (1994), the crime thriller Seven (1995), and the cult film Fight Club (1999). Pitt found greater commercial success starring in Steven Soderbergh's heist film Ocean's Eleven (2001), and reprised his role in its sequels. He cemented his leading man status starring in blockbusters such as the historical epic Troy (2004), the romantic crime film Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), the horror film World War Z (2013), and the action film Bullet Train (2022).

Pitt won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing a stuntman in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). He was Oscar-nominated for his roles in the science fiction drama 12 Monkeys (1995), the fantasy romance The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and the sports drama Moneyball (2011). He also starred in acclaimed films such as Babel (2006), The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), Burn After Reading (2008), Inglourious Basterds (2009), The Tree of Life (2011), and The Big Short (2015).

In 2001, Pitt co-founded the production company Plan B Entertainment.{{cite web |url=https://people.com/movies/oscar-movies-brad-pitt-has-produced-over-the-years-from-minari-to-moonlight/ |title=Oscar Movies Brad Pitt Has Produced Over the Years – from Minari to Moonlight |website=People |access-date=July 2, 2022 |archive-date=July 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702122237/https://people.com/movies/oscar-movies-brad-pitt-has-produced-over-the-years-from-minari-to-moonlight/ |url-status=live}} As a producer, he won the Academy Award for Best Picture for 12 Years a Slave (2013) and was nominated for Moneyball (2011) and The Big Short (2015). One of the most influential celebrities, Pitt appeared on Forbes{{'}} annual Celebrity 100 list from 2006 to 2008, and the Time 100 list in 2007. Regarded as a sex symbol, Pitt was named People's Sexiest Man Alive in 1995 and 2000. Pitt's relationships have also been subject to widespread media attention, particularly his marriages to actresses Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie, the latter of whom he shares six children with.{{efn|All this information is referenced and sourced in the personal life section of this article.}}

Early life

William Bradley Pitt was born on December 18, 1963, in Shawnee, Oklahoma, to William Alvin Pitt, the proprietor of a trucking company, and Jane Etta (née Hillhouse), a school counselor.{{cite news|last=Bunbury|first=Stephanie|title=The business of being Brad|url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/film/the-business-of-being-brad/2008/12/13/1228585167094.html|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=December 14, 2008|access-date=May 13, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603061437/http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/film/the-business-of-being-brad/2008/12/13/1228585167094.html|archive-date=June 3, 2009|url-status=live}} The family soon moved to Springfield, Missouri, where he lived together with his younger siblings, Douglas Pitt (born 1966) and Julie Neal (née Pitt) (born 1969).{{cite magazine|title=Slippin' around on the road with Brad Pitt |author=Chris Mundy |date=December 1, 1994|magazine=Rolling Stone}} Born into a conservative Christian household,{{cite web |last1=Blair |first1=Leonardo |title=Brad Pitt no longer identifies as atheist, says he was just being 'rebellious' |url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/brad-pitt-no-longer-identifies-as-atheist-says-he-was-just-being-rebellious.html |publisher=The Christian Post |access-date=October 3, 2019 |language=en |date=September 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191004010333/https://www.christianpost.com/news/brad-pitt-no-longer-identifies-as-atheist-says-he-was-just-being-rebellious.html |archive-date=October 4, 2019 |url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://theprovince.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Brad+Pitt+mother+bashes+Obama+local+paper/6894885/story.html |title=Brad Pitt's Mother Bashes Obama in Local Paper |access-date=July 6, 2012 |date=July 6, 2012 |first=Alexander C.|last=Kaufman |website=The Wrap |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120707195733/http://www.theprovince.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Brad%2BPitt%2Bmother%2Bbashes%2BObama%2Blocal%2Bpaper/6894885/story.html |archive-date=July 7, 2012}} he was raised as Southern Baptist and later "oscillate[d] between agnosticism and atheism".{{cite news|last=Galloway|first=Stephen|title=The Many Revolutions of Brad Pitt|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/brad-pitt-oscar-nomination-moneyball-tree-life-angelina-jolie-284635|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=February 7, 2014|date=January 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140215082436/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/brad-pitt-oscar-nomination-moneyball-tree-life-angelina-jolie-284635|archive-date=February 15, 2014|url-status=live}} He later reconciled his belief in spirituality.{{cite web |last1=Baron |first1=Zach |title=Brad Pitt Is Still Searching |url=https://www.gq.com/story/brad-pitt-cover-profile-october-2019 |magazine=GQ |access-date=March 13, 2020 |date=September 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200409071612/https://www.gq.com/story/brad-pitt-cover-profile-october-2019 |archive-date=April 9, 2020 |url-status=live}} Pitt has described Springfield as "Mark Twain country, Jesse James country", having grown up with "a lot of hills, a lot of lakes".Stated on Inside the Actors Studio, 2012

Pitt attended Kickapoo High School, where he was a member of the golf, swimming, and tennis teams.{{cite news |url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20529706,00.html |work=People |title=Brad Pitt Was a Wrestler and a Diver – Never a Baseball Player |date=September 19, 2011 |access-date=December 25, 2011 |first=Rennie |last=Dyball |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111211133929/http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20529706,00.html |archive-date=December 11, 2011 |url-status=dead}} He participated in the school's Key and Forensics clubs, in school debates, and in musicals.{{cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/brad-pitt-filmography-biography |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210104647/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,191847,00.html?sPage=fnc%2Fentertainment%2Fcelebrity%2Fpitt |url-status=live |archive-date=February 10, 2009 |title=Brad Pitt Filmography, Biography |date=May 11, 2006 |publisher=Fox News |access-date=October 30, 2008}} Following his graduation from high school, Pitt enrolled in the University of Missouri in 1982, majoring in journalism with a focus on advertising.{{cite news |url=http://www.biography.com/people/brad-pitt-9441989 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004005938/http://www.biography.com/people/brad-pitt-9441989 |url-status=live |archive-date=October 4, 2011 |title=Brad Pitt – Film Actor, Producer, Actor |date=March 1, 2018 |publisher=A & E Television Networks |access-date=October 9, 2018}} As graduation approached, Pitt did not feel ready to settle down. He loved films—"a portal into different worlds for me"—and, since films were not made in Missouri, he decided to go to where they were made.{{cite web|title=Interview With Brad Pitt|url=http://parade.condenast.com/50120/parade/interview-with-brad-pitt/|publisher=Parade|access-date=August 28, 2014|date=September 18, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906114921/http://parade.condenast.com/50120/parade/interview-with-brad-pitt/|archive-date=September 6, 2014|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|author1=Tom Junod|title=Brad Pitt: A Life So Large|url=http://www.esquire.com/features/brad-pitt-cover-interview-0613|magazine=Esquire|access-date=August 28, 2014|date=May 20, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906114320/http://www.esquire.com/features/brad-pitt-cover-interview-0613|archive-date=September 6, 2014|url-status=live}} Two weeks short of completing the coursework for a degree, Pitt left the university and moved to Los Angeles, where he took acting lessons and worked odd jobs. He has named Gary Oldman, Sean Penn, and Mickey Rourke as his early acting heroes.{{cite web|url=https://www.mtv.co.uk/news/8u154s/brad-pitt-on-oscars|title=Brad Pitt on Oscars|date=January 23, 2009|publisher=MTV UK|access-date=February 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109032703/http://www.mtv.co.uk/brad-pitt/news/brad-pitt-on-oscars|archive-date=January 9, 2018|url-status=live}}

Career

= Early work (1987–1993) =

While struggling to establish himself in Los Angeles, Pitt took lessons from acting coach Roy London.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20009322,00.html |title=Brad Pitt: 'Strippers Changed My Life' |first=Tim|last=Nudd |date=January 22, 2007 |magazine=People |access-date=October 14, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030023332/http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20009322,00.html |archive-date=October 30, 2008 |url-status=dead}} His acting career began in 1987, with uncredited parts in the films No Way Out (1987), No Man's Land (1987) and Less than Zero (1987).{{cite web|title=No Way Out |url=http://movieclips.com/Rar7S-no-way-out-movie-videos/ |publisher=MovieClips |access-date=July 5, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601095002/http://movieclips.com/Rar7S-no-way-out-movie-videos/ |archive-date=June 1, 2013}} In May 1987, he made his television debut in a two-episode role on the NBC soap opera Another World.

[http://www.igs.net/~awhp/bradpitt.html "Brad Pitt on Another World"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213170128/http://www.igs.net/~awhp/bradpitt.html |date=February 13, 2012}} , The Another World Home Page. Retrieved January 10, 2012.

In November of the same year, Pitt had a guest appearance on the CBS sitcom Trial and Error{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=70szDAAAQBAJ |title=Single Season Sitcoms of the 1980s: A Complete Guide |isbn=9781476623849 |last1=Leszczak |first1=Bob |date=May 16, 2016 |publisher=McFarland |access-date=October 25, 2020 |archive-date=December 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227040910/https://books.google.com/books?id=70szDAAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GqRWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT276 |title=Forgotten Laughs: An Episode Guide to 150 TV Sitcoms You Probably Never Saw |last1=Irvin |first1=Richard |year=2016 |access-date=May 29, 2020 |archive-date=January 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240117032406/https://books.google.com/books?id=GqRWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT276#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}} and the ABC sitcom Growing Pains.{{cite web |url=http://www.biography.com/articles/Brad-Pitt-9441989 |title=Brad Pitt Biography |publisher=The Biography Channel |page=1 |access-date=May 20, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090517071215/http://www.biography.com/articles/Brad-Pitt-9441989 |archive-date=May 17, 2009}} He appeared in four episodes of the CBS primetime series Dallas between December 1987 and February 1988 as Randy, the boyfriend of Jenna Wade's daughter Charlotte (played by Shalane McCall).{{cite news |url=http://scotlandonsunday.Scotsman.com/features/Would-the-real-Brad-Pitt.4535381.jp |title=Would the real Brad Pitt please stand up? |author=Garth Pierce |date=September 28, 2008 |work=Scotland on Sunday |access-date=May 26, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110916001720/http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/features/Would-the-real-Brad-Pitt.4535381.jp |archive-date=September 16, 2011 |url-status=dead}} Later in 1988, Pitt made a guest appearance on the Fox police drama 21 Jump Street.{{cite news |author=Joyce J. Persico|title=Hollywood Hunk Brad Pitt Is Casual About Celebrity|date=September 29, 1995|work=The Times-Picayune|page=L34}} In the same year, the Yugoslavian–U.S. co-production The Dark Side of the Sun (1988) was his first leading film role, starring as a young American taken by his family to the Adriatic to find a remedy for a skin condition. The film was shelved at the outbreak of the Croatian War of Independence, and was not released until 1997. Pitt made two motion picture appearances in 1989: the first in a supporting role in the comedy Happy Together; the second a featured role in the horror film Cutting Class, the first of Pitt's films to reach theaters. He made guest appearances on television series Head of the Class, Freddy's Nightmares, Thirtysomething, and (for a second time) Growing Pains.{{cite book|last=Catalano|first=Grace|url=https://archive.org/details/bradpitthotsexy0000cata/page/31|title=Brad Pitt: Hot and Sexy|date=June 1, 1995|publisher=Bantam Books|isbn=978-0-553-57015-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/bradpitthotsexy0000cata/page/31 31]|url-access=registration}}

Pitt was cast as Billy Canton, a drug addict who takes advantage of a young runaway (played by Juliette Lewis) in the 1990 NBC television movie Too Young to Die?, the story of an abused teenager sentenced to death for a murder. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly wrote: "Pitt is a magnificent slimeball as her hoody boyfriend; looking and sounding like a malevolent John Cougar Mellencamp, he's really scary."{{cite news|url=https://ew.com/article/1990/02/23/too-young-die/|title=Too Young to Die?|first=Ken|last=Tucker|date=February 23, 1990|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=October 14, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316190415/http://www.ew.com/article/1990/02/23/too-young-die|archive-date=March 16, 2015 |url-status=live}} The same year, Pitt co-starred in six episodes of the short-lived Fox drama Glory Days and took a supporting role in the HBO television film The Image. His next appearance came in the 1991 film Across the Tracks; Pitt portrayed Joe Maloney, a high school runner with a criminal brother, played by Rick Schroder.{{cite news |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/739/Across-the-Tracks/details |title=Across the Tracks – Cast, Crew, Director, and Awards |access-date=October 14, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216143414/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/739/Across-the-Tracks/details |archive-date=December 16, 2008 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=The New York Times |date=2008 |url-status=dead}} The same year he featured in a Levi's jeans TV commercial based around the song "20th Century Boy" which played in the background.{{cite book |title=The Oxford Handbook of Music and Advertising |date=2021 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=457}}

After years of supporting roles in film and frequent television guest appearances, Pitt attracted wider recognition in his supporting role in Ridley Scott's 1991 road film Thelma & Louise.{{cite news|first=Russell|last=Smith|title=Brad Pitt Only Does Interesting Movie Roles|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/315705/BRAD-PITT-ONLY-DOES-INTERESTING-MOVIE-ROLES.html|date=October 19, 1993|work=Deseret News|page=EV6|quote=It was in 1991, when he hitched his ride with Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon in Thelma & Louise, that Pitt's star began to twinkle in earnest.|access-date=May 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504142719/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/315705/BRAD-PITT-ONLY-DOES-INTERESTING-MOVIE-ROLES.html|archive-date=May 4, 2017 |url-status=dead}} He played J.D., a small-time criminal who befriends Thelma (Geena Davis). His love scene with Davis has been cited as the event that defined Pitt as a sex symbol.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3687795.stm |title=Brad Pitt's epic journey |date=May 13, 2004 |work=BBC News |access-date=May 20, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110406123623/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3687795.stm |archive-date=April 6, 2011 |url-status=live}} After Thelma & Louise, Pitt starred in the 1991 film Johnny Suede, a low-budget picture about an aspiring rock star,{{cite news |first=Ashley |last=Meeks |title=On DVD: "Walk Hard" hits the right notes; Pitt's "Johnny Suede" sizzles |date=September 24, 2008 |work=Las Cruces Sun-News}} and the 1992 live-action/animated fantasy film Cool World, although neither furthered his career, having poor reviews and box office performance.{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1040378-cool_world/ |title=Cool World Movie Reviews, Pictures |access-date=March 13, 2010 |website=Rotten Tomatoes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100228201816/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1040378-cool_world/ |archive-date=February 28, 2010 |url-status=live}}

Pitt took on the role of Paul Maclean in the 1992 biographical film A River Runs Through It, directed by Robert Redford.{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Movies/9811/13/brad.pitt/ |title=Meet Brad Pitt: Actor talks traps, perfection, and honesty |author=Laurin Sydney |date=November 13, 1998 |publisher=CNN: Showbiz/Movies |access-date=November 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425062814/http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Movies/9811/13/brad.pitt/ |archive-date=April 25, 2009 |url-status=live}} His portrayal of the character was described by People{{'}}s Janet Mock as a career-making performance,{{cite news |first=Janet|last=Mock |url=http://www.people.com/people/brad_pitt/biography |title=Brad Pitt Biography |work=People |page=1 |access-date=February 25, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809103647/http://www.people.com/people/brad_pitt/biography |archive-date=August 9, 2011 |url-status=live}} proving that Pitt could be more than a "cowboy-hatted hunk."{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/inglourious_basterds/news/1838607/total_recall_brad_pitts_best_movies |title=Total Recall: Brad Pitt's Best Movies |author=Jeff Giles |date=August 20, 2009 |website=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=March 13, 2010 |page=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906113956/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/inglourious_basterds/news/1838607/total_recall_brad_pitts_best_movies/ |archive-date=September 6, 2014 |url-status=live}} He has admitted to feeling under pressure when making the film and thought it was one of his "weakest performances ... It's so weird that it ended up being the one that I got the most attention for." Pitt believed that he benefited from working with such a talented cast and crew. He compared working with Redford to playing tennis with a superior player, saying "when you play with somebody better than you, your game gets better." In 1993, Pitt reunited with Juliette Lewis for the road film Kalifornia. He played Early Grayce, a serial killer and the abusive husband of Lewis' character, in a performance described by Peter Travers of Rolling Stone as "outstanding, all boyish charm and then a snort that exudes pure menace."{{cite magazine |title=Kalifornia: Review |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/kalifornia-19930903 |first=Peter|last=Travers |author-link=Peter Travers |date=December 8, 2000 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=October 14, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628214517/http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/kalifornia-19930903 |archive-date=June 28, 2011 |url-status=live}} Pitt also garnered attention for a brief appearance in the cult hit True Romance as a stoner named Floyd, providing comic relief to the action film.{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/inglourious_basterds/news/1838607/2/total_recall_brad_pitts_best_movies |title=Total Recall: Brad Pitt's Best Movies |first=Jeff|last=Giles |date=August 20, 2009 |website=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=March 13, 2010 |page=2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100213112113/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/inglourious_basterds/news/1838607/2/total_recall_brad_pitts_best_movies |archive-date=February 13, 2010 |url-status=live}} He capped the year by winning a ShoWest Award for Male Star of Tomorrow.{{cite web |url=http://www.showest.com/filmexpo/showest/general/past_winners.jsp |title=Showest Awards: Past Award Winners |publisher=ShoWest (Nielsen Business Media Film Group) |access-date=August 18, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517060340/http://www.showest.com/filmexpo/showest/general/past_winners.jsp |archive-date=May 17, 2008}}

= Breakthrough (1994–1998) =

file:SevenYearsInTibeta.jpg in Argentina on the set of Seven Years in Tibet in 1997]]

In 1994, Pitt portrayed the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac in the horror film Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, based on Anne Rice's 1976 novel of the same name.{{cite news |url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/calendar/film/1994-11-11/138413/ |title=Interview With the Vampire review |first=Marc|last=Savlov |date=November 11, 1994 |work=The Austin Chronicle |access-date=October 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629192316/http://www.austinchronicle.com/calendar/film/1994-11-11/138413/ |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |url-status=live}} He was part of an ensemble cast that included Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst, Christian Slater, and Antonio Banderas. Despite his winning two MTV Movie Awards at the 1995 ceremony,{{cite news |url=http://www.mtv.com/ontv/movieawards/1995/ |title=1995 Movie Awards |website=MTV |access-date=October 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120830211407/http://www.mtv.com/ontv/movieawards/1995/ |archive-date=August 30, 2012 |url-status=dead}} his performance was poorly received. According to the Dallas Observer, "Brad Pitt [...] is a large part of the problem [in the film]. When directors play up his cocky, hunkish, folksy side [...] he's a joy to watch. But there's nothing about him that suggests inner torment or even self-awareness, which makes him a boring Louis."{{cite news |url=http://www.dallasobserver.com/1994-11-10/film/bloodlust/ |title=Bloodlust |first=Matt Zoller|last=Seitz |date=November 10, 1994 |work=Dallas Observer |page=1 |access-date=July 13, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141227223848/http://www.dallasobserver.com/1994-11-10/film/bloodlust/ |archive-date=December 27, 2014 |url-status=live}}

Following the release of Interview with the Vampire, Pitt starred in Legends of the Fall (1994),{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2000/11/14/legends_of_the_fall_1994_review.shtml |title=BBC Films review – Legends of the Fall |first=Almar|last=Haflidason |date=November 14, 2000 |work=BBC Movies |access-date=October 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216072343/http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2000/11/14/legends_of_the_fall_1994_review.shtml |archive-date=December 16, 2008 |url-status=live}} based on a novel by the same name by Jim Harrison, set in the American West during the first four decades of the twentieth century. Portraying Tristan Ludlow, son of Colonel William Ludlow (Anthony Hopkins) a Cornish immigrant,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VgBtaDT-evYC&pg=PA204|title=The Celtic Languages in Contact: Papers from the Workshop Within the Framework of the XIII International Congress of Celtic Studies, Bonn, July 26-27, 2007|first=Hildegard L. C.|last=Tristram|date=January 1, 2007|publisher=Universitätsverlag Potsdam|via=Google Books|isbn=978-3940793072|access-date=March 15, 2016|archive-date=January 17, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240117032317/https://books.google.com/books?id=VgBtaDT-evYC&pg=PA204#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}} Pitt received his first Golden Globe Award nomination, in the Best Actor category.{{cite web |url=http://www.goldenglobes.org/browse/member/28464 |title=HFPA – Awards Search |access-date=May 16, 2008 |publisher=Golden Globes Official Website |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811021752/http://www.goldenglobes.org/browse/member/28464 |archive-date=August 11, 2011}} Aidan Quinn and Henry Thomas co-starred as Pitt's brothers. Although the film's reception was mixed,{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/legends-of-the-fall |title=Legends of the Fall (1995): Reviews |date=January 13, 1995 |website=Metacritic |access-date=December 22, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100818225157/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/legends-of-the-fall |archive-date=August 18, 2010 |url-status=live}} many film critics praised Pitt's performance. Janet Maslin of The New York Times said, "Pitt's diffident mix of acting and attitude works to such heartthrob perfection it's a shame the film's superficiality gets in his way."{{cite news |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A04E1DF1F38F930A15751C1A962958260 |title=Grit vs. Good Looks In the American West |first=Janet|last=Maslin |authorlink=Janet Maslin|date=December 23, 1994 |work=The New York Times |access-date=March 2, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117202807/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A04E1DF1F38F930A15751C1A962958260 |archive-date=January 17, 2012 |url-status=live}} The Deseret News predicted that Legends of the Fall would solidify Pitt's reputation as a lead actor.{{cite news |url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700001019/Legends-of-the-Fall.html |title=Legends of the Fall |first=Chris|last=Hicks |date=January 17, 1995 |work=Deseret News |access-date=February 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091206034903/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700001019/Legends-of-the-Fall.html |archive-date=December 6, 2009 |url-status=dead}}

In 1995, Pitt starred alongside Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kevin Spacey in the crime thriller Seven, playing a detective on the trail of a serial killer who preys on people he considers guilty of the Seven Deadly Sins.{{cite news |first=Janet|last=Maslin |authorlink=Janet Maslin|title=Seven Movie Review |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=990CE1D81F3AF931A1575AC0A963958260 |date=September 22, 1995 |work=The New York Times |access-date=October 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206143415/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=990CE1D81F3AF931A1575AC0A963958260 |archive-date=February 6, 2012 |url-status=live}} Pitt called it a great movie and declared the part would expand his acting horizons.{{cite news |first=Jamie|last=Portman |title=Into the Pitt: The actor talks about how he chooses roles – and how his last one may have done him permanent injury |date=September 16, 1995 |work=The Hamilton Spectator |page=7}} He expressed his intent to move on from "this 'pretty boy' thing [...] and play someone with flaws."{{cite news |first=Cindy|last=Pearlman |title=Brad Pitt's Seven Deadly Sins |date=September 17, 1995 |work=Chicago Sun-Times |page=1}} His performance was critically well received, with Variety saying that it was screen acting at its best, further remarking on Pitt's ability to turn in a "determined, energetic, creditable job" as the detective.{{cite news |url=https://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=review&reviewid=VE1117794764&categoryid=31&cs=1 |title=Se7en Review |date=January 1, 1995 |work=Variety |access-date=December 22, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090815174232/http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=review&reviewid=VE1117794764&categoryid=31&cs=1 |archive-date=August 15, 2009 |url-status=live}} Seven earned $327 million at the international box office. Following the success of Seven, Pitt played psychotic anarchist Jeffrey Goines in Terry Gilliam's 1995 science fiction film 12 Monkeys. The movie received predominantly positive reviews, with Pitt praised in particular. Janet Maslin of The New York Times called Twelve Monkeys "fierce and disturbing" and remarked on Pitt's "startlingly frenzied performance", concluding that he "electrifies Jeffrey with a weird magnetism that becomes important later in the film."{{cite news |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D03E7DF1239F934A15751C1A963958260 |first=Janet|last=Maslin |authorlink=Janet Maslin|title=FILM REVIEW;A Time Traveler With Bad News|work=The New York Times |date=December 27, 1995|access-date=October 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206143359/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D03E7DF1239F934A15751C1A963958260 |archive-date=February 6, 2012 |url-status=live}} He won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film and received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.{{cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/press/presskits/nominations/pdf/81aa_fact_sheet.pdf |title=81st Annual Academy Awards – Oscar Nominations Fact Sheet |access-date=January 27, 2010 |publisher=Academy Awards Official Website |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206022110/http://www.oscars.org/press/presskits/nominations/pdf/81aa_fact_sheet.pdf |archive-date=February 6, 2009 |url-status=dead}}

The following year, he appeared in the legal drama Sleepers (1996), based on Lorenzo Carcaterra's novel of the same name.{{cite news |url=https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,294799,00.html |title=Like a Bad Dream |first=Owen|last=Gleiberman |authorlink=Owen Gleiberman|date=November 1, 1996 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=November 6, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029030640/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,294799,00.html |archive-date=October 29, 2008 |url-status=dead}} The film received mixed reviews.{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/sleepers |title=Sleepers (1996): Reviews |date=October 18, 1996 |website=Metacritic |access-date=March 31, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110408003339/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/sleepers |archive-date=April 8, 2011 |url-status=live}} In the 1997 film The Devil's Own Pitt starred, opposite Harrison Ford, as Irish Republican Army terrorist Rory Devany,{{cite news |url=https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,287134,00.html |title=The Devil's Own Movie Review |first=Owen |last=Gleiberman |authorlink=Owen Gleiberman|date=March 21, 1997 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=October 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081001225930/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,287134,00.html |archive-date=October 1, 2008 |url-status=dead}} a role for which he was required to learn an Irish accent.{{cite news|first=Larry|last=Ratliff |title=Sexy integrity – Brad Pitt worked hard to match co-star Ford's 'every day look' |date=March 28, 1997 |newspaper=San Antonio Express-News |page=10H |quote=[Brad] Pitt had to master an Irish accent [in The Devil's Own] to play the bitter freedom fighter who befriends the New York cop portrayed by [Harrison] Ford.}} Critical opinion was divided on his accent; "Pitt finds the right tone of moral ambiguity, but at times his Irish brogue is too convincing – it's hard to understand what he's saying", wrote the San Francisco Chronicle.{{cite news|author=Ruthe Stein|url=https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/A-Divine-Duo-in-Devil-s-Own-The-Irish-2849106.php|title=A Divine Duo in 'Devil's Own' / The Irish Troubles are brewing – Ford, Pitt add to the chemistry|access-date=March 15, 2010|date=March 26, 1997|work=San Francisco Chronicle|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119073629/http://articles.sfgate.com/1997-03-26/entertainment/17744750_1_northern-ireland-ira-rory-devaney|archive-date=January 19, 2012|url-status=live}} The Charleston Gazette opined that it had favored Pitt's accent over the movie.{{cite news|first=Linda B.|last=Blackford|title=Pitt Was Right About 'The Devil's Own'|date=April 4, 1997|newspaper=The Charleston Gazette|page=P2D}} The Devil's Own grossed $140 million worldwide.

Later that year, he led as Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer in the Jean-Jacques Annaud film Seven Years in Tibet.{{cite news|url=http://www2.salon.com/ent/movies/1997/10/10tibet.html |title=Seven Years in Tibet |first=Dwight|last=Garner |date=October 10, 1997 |work=Salon.com |access-date=October 15, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216071455/http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/1997/10/10tibet.html |archive-date=December 16, 2008}} Pitt trained for months for the role, which demanded significant mountain climbing and trekking practice, including rock climbing in California and the European Alps with his co-star David Thewlis.{{cite news |first=Chris|last=Nashawaty |url=https://ew.com/article/1997/06/13/brad-pitts-seven-years-tibet-dilemma/ |title='Seven Years' Hitch |date=June 13, 1997 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=October 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010232531/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,288347,00.html |archive-date=October 10, 2008 |url-status=live}} Pitt had the lead role in 1998's fantasy romance film Meet Joe Black. He portrayed a personification of death inhabiting the body of a young man to learn what it is like to be human.{{cite news |url=http://www.cincinnati.com/freetime/movies/mcgurk/meetjoeblack.html |title=Meet Brad Pitt |first=Margaret A.|last=McGurk |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |access-date=October 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090814015129/http://www.cincinnati.com/freetime/movies/mcgurk/meetjoeblack.html |archive-date=August 14, 2009 |url-status=live}} The film received mixed reviews, and many were critical of Pitt's performance. According to Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle, Pitt was unable to "make an audience believe that he knows all the mysteries of death and eternity."{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1998/11/13/DD24338.DTL |title=Colorless 'Joe Black'/ Pitt's Death is lethally dull, but Hopkins breathes life into overlong romance |first=Mick|last=LaSalle |authorlink=Mick LaSalle|date=November 13, 1998 |work=San Francisco Chronicle |access-date=February 25, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128032045/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F1998%2F11%2F13%2FDD24338.DTL |archive-date=January 28, 2012 |url-status=live}} Roger Ebert remarked, "Pitt is a fine actor, but this performance is a miscalculation."{{cite news|first=Roger|last=Ebert|authorlink=Roger Ebert|url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19981113/REVIEWS/811130304/1023|title=Meet Joe Black|newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times|date=November 13, 1998|access-date=January 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402202651/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19981113%2FREVIEWS%2F811130304%2F1023 |archive-date=April 2, 2013|via=rogerebert.com}}

= Rise to prominence (1999–2003) =

In 1999, Pitt portrayed Tyler Durden in Fight Club,{{cite book |title=Fight Club |author=Chuck Palahniuk |author-link=Chuck Palahniuk |year=1996 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0393039764 |page=25|title-link=Fight Club (novel)}}{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/film/the-business-of-being-brad/2008/12/13/1228585167094.html |title=The business of being Brad |author=Stephanie Bunbury |date=December 13, 2008 |work=The Sun-Herald |page=4 |access-date=May 13, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603061437/http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/film/the-business-of-being-brad/2008/12/13/1228585167094.html |archive-date=June 3, 2009 |url-status=live}} a film adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's novel of the same name, directed by David Fincher.{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/books/news/9910/19/fight.club.salon/index1.html |title='Fight Club': It 'Just sort of clicked' |author=Michael Sragow |date=October 19, 1999 |work=Salon.com |publisher=CNN |page=2 |access-date=December 31, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161206061834/http://www.cnn.com/books/news/9910/19/fight.club.salon/index1.html |archive-date=December 6, 2016 |url-status=live}} Pitt prepared for the part with lessons in boxing, taekwondo, and grappling.{{cite magazine |author=Stephen Garrett |title=Freeze Frame |magazine=Details|date=July 1999}} To look the part, Pitt consented to the removal of pieces of his front teeth which were restored when filming ended.{{cite magazine |author=Chris Nashawaty |url=https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,83604,00.html |title=Brad Pitt loses his teeth for a "Fight" |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=July 16, 1998 |access-date=February 25, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906114224/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,83604,00.html |archive-date=September 6, 2014 |url-status=dead}} While promoting Fight Club, Pitt said that the film explored not taking one's aggressions out on someone else but to "have an experience, take a punch more and see how you come out on the other end."{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Movies/9910/14/fight.club/ |title=Brad Pitt spars with 'Fight Club' critics |author=Paul Vercammen |date=October 14, 1999 |publisher=CNN: Showbiz/Movies |access-date=December 7, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425062803/http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Movies/9910/14/fight.club/ |archive-date=April 25, 2009 |url-status=live}} Fight Club premiered at the 1999 Venice International Film Festival.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jAMzAAAAIBAJ&pg=6070,980986|title=Cruise, Kidman visit Venice Film Festival|work=The Free Lance-Star|date=September 4, 1999|page=26|access-date=September 23, 2013|archive-date=July 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709183149/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jAMzAAAAIBAJ&pg=6070,980986|url-status=live}} Despite divided critical opinion on the film as a whole,{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/fight-club/critic-reviews |title=Fight Club: What The Critics Said |website=Metacritic |access-date=February 28, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110228045627/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/fight-club/critic-reviews |archive-date=February 28, 2011 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |author=David Gritten |title=Premiere of Fight Club leaves critics slugging it out in Venice |work=The Ottawa Citizen |date=September 14, 1999}} Pitt's performance was widely praised. Paul Clinton of CNN noted the risky yet successful nature of the film,{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Movies/9910/15/review.fight.club/ |title=Review: 'Fight Club' a two-fisted knockout |author=Paul Clinton |date=October 15, 1999 |publisher=CNN: Showbiz/Movies |access-date=March 29, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425062806/http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Movies/9910/15/review.fight.club/ |archive-date=April 25, 2009 |url-status=live}} while Variety remarked upon Pitt's ability to be "cool, charismatic and more dynamically physical, perhaps than [...] his breakthrough role in Thelma and Louise".{{cite news |url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117752116.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0 |title=Fight Club Review |author=David Rooney |date=September 13, 1999 |work=Variety |access-date=October 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208200156/http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117752116.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0 |archive-date=December 8, 2008 |url-status=live}} In spite of a worse-than-expected box office performance, Fight Club became a cult classic after its DVD release in 2000.{{cite news |author=Dennis Lim |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/movies/homevideo/08lim.html |title='Fight Club' Fight Goes On |access-date=December 10, 2009 |date=November 8, 2009 |work=The New York Times |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120310035311/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/movies/homevideo/08lim.html |archive-date=March 10, 2012 |url-status=live}}

File:Brad Pitt at Incirlik2.jpg

Pitt was cast as an Irish Traveller boxer with a barely intelligible accent in Guy Ritchie's 2000 gangster film Snatch.{{cite news|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/18/review.snatch/index.html |title='Snatch': Bloody kid stuff |author=Paul Tatara |date=January 18, 2001 |publisher=CNN: Showbiz/Movies |access-date=October 15, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629045714/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/18/review.snatch/index.html |archive-date=June 29, 2011}} Several reviewers were critical of Snatch; however, most praised Pitt.{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/snatch |title=Snatch (2001): Reviews |date=January 19, 2001 |website=Metacritic |access-date=December 31, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101117021154/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/snatch |archive-date=November 17, 2010 |url-status=live}} Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said Pitt was "ideally cast as an Irishman whose accent is so thick even Brits can't understand him", going on to say that, before Snatch, Pitt had been "shackled by roles that called for brooding introspection, but recently he has found his calling in black comic outrageousness and flashy extroversion;"{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/01/19/DD166302.DTL&type=movies |title=Pitt Finds His Groove |author=Mick LaSalle |date=January 19, 2001 |work=San Francisco Chronicle |access-date=December 31, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111018183017/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fchronicle%2Farchive%2F2001%2F01%2F19%2FDD166302.DTL&type=movies |archive-date=October 18, 2011 |url-status=live}} while Amy Taubin of The Village Voice claimed that "Pitt gets maximum comic mileage out of a one-joke role".{{cite news |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/2001-01-16/film/miscarried-justice-jejune-miscreants/2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020215057/http://www.villagevoice.com/2001-01-16/film/miscarried-justice-jejune-miscreants/2/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 20, 2012 |title=Miscarried Justice; Jejune Miscreants |author=Amy Taubin |date=January 16, 2010 |work=The Village Voice |access-date=February 26, 2010}}

The following year Pitt starred opposite Julia Roberts in the romantic comedy The Mexican,{{cite news|author=Jay Boyar|title=Runaway Ride – 'The Mexican' Is Freewheeling Fun From Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt|date=March 2, 2001|work=Orlando Sentinel|page=21}} a film that garnered a range of reviews{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-mexican |title=Mexican, The (2001): Reviews |date=March 2, 2001 |website=Metacritic |access-date=March 26, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921132757/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-mexican |archive-date=September 21, 2011 |url-status=live}} but enjoyed box office success. Pitt's next role, in 2001's $143 million-grossing Cold War thriller Spy Game, was as Tom Bishop, an operative of the CIA's Special Activities Division, mentored by Robert Redford's character.{{cite news|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/2001-11-27/film/international-men-of-history/1 |title=International Men of History |author=Mark Holcomb |date=November 27, 2001 |work=The Village Voice |access-date=October 15, 2008 |page=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110825223940/http://www.villagevoice.com/2001-11-27/film/international-men-of-history/1/ |archive-date=August 25, 2011}} Mark Holcomb of Salon.com enjoyed the film, although he noted that neither Pitt nor Redford provided "much of an emotional connection for the audience".{{cite news |url=http://www.salon.com/2001/11/21/spy_game/ |title=Spy Game |author=Charles Taylor |date=November 21, 2001 |work=Salon.com |page=2 |access-date=February 25, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924093548/http://www.salon.com/2001/11/21/spy_game/ |archive-date=September 24, 2017 |url-status=live}}

On November 22, 2001, Pitt made a guest appearance in the eighth season of the television series Friends, playing a man with a grudge against Rachel Green, played by Jennifer Aniston, to whom Pitt was married at the time.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1668756.stm |title=Pitt joins Aniston in Friends |access-date=September 23, 2013 |date=November 21, 2001 |work=BBC News |archive-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321195950/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1668756.stm |url-status=live}} For this performance he was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,321601,00.html |title=Trophy Time |author=Gary Susman |date=July 17, 2002 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=April 22, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090605233103/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,321601,00.html |archive-date=June 5, 2009 |url-status=dead}} In December 2001, Pitt played Rusty Ryan in the heist film Ocean's Eleven, a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack original. He joined an ensemble cast including George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy García, and Julia Roberts.{{cite news |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20011207/REVIEWS/112070302/1023 |title=Ocean's Eleven |author=Roger Ebert |date=December 7, 2001 |work=Chicago Sun-Times |access-date=October 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402202645/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20011207%2FREVIEWS%2F112070302%2F1023 |archive-date=April 2, 2013 |url-status=live}} Well received by critics, Ocean's Eleven was highly successful at the box office, earning $450 million worldwide.

Pitt appeared in two episodes of MTV's reality series Jackass in February 2002, first running through the streets of Los Angeles with several cast members in gorilla suits,{{cite episode |title=Night Monkey 2 (with Brad Pitt) |series=Jackass|network=MTV |airdate=February 10, 2002 |season=3 |number=8 |minutes=22–23}} and in a subsequent episode participating in his own staged abduction.{{cite episode |title=The Abduction (with Brad Pitt) |series=Jackass|network=MTV |airdate=February 17, 2002 |season=3 |number=9 |minutes=22–23}} In the same year, Pitt had a cameo role in George Clooney's directorial debut Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.{{cite news|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/30/barris.cnna/ |title=Chuck Barris' 'Dangerous Mind' |author=Bill Hemmer |date=December 30, 2002 |publisher=CNN: Showbiz/Movies |access-date=July 24, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629045725/http://archives.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/30/barris.cnna/ |archive-date=June 29, 2011}} He took on his first voice-acting roles in 2003, speaking as the titular character of the DreamWorks animated film Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas{{cite news |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D01E7DD123AF931A35754C0A9659C8B63 |title=Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas review |author=Elvis Mitchell |author-link=Elvis Mitchell |date=July 2, 2003 |work=The New York Times |access-date=October 29, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117222921/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D01E7DD123AF931A35754C0A9659C8B63 |archive-date=January 17, 2012 |url-status=live}} and playing Boomhauer's brother, Patch, in an episode of the animated television series King of the Hill.{{cite episode |title=Patch Boomhauer |series=King of the Hill |credits=J.B. Cooke, Anthony Lioi |network=Fox |airdate=November 2, 2003 |season=8 |number=150 |minutes=22}}

= Worldwide recognition (2004–2008) =

Pitt had two major film roles in 2004, starring as Achilles in Troy, and reprising his role, Rusty Ryan, in the sequel Ocean's Twelve. He spent six months sword training before the filming of Troy, based on the Iliad.{{cite news |author=Rome Neal |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/brad-pitts-sailing-along/ |title=Brad Pitt's Sailing Along |date=July 1, 2003 |publisher=CBS News |work=The Early Show |access-date=November 24, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111216000421/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/01/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/main561157.shtml |archive-date=December 16, 2011 |url-status=live}} An on-set injury to his Achilles tendon delayed production on the picture for several weeks.{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/06/1083635286338.html |title=For Pitt's sake |access-date=May 15, 2008 |date=May 7, 2004 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080406100911/http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/06/1083635286338.html |archive-date=April 6, 2008 |url-status=live}} Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post stated that Pitt excelled at such a demanding role.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25869-2004May13.html |title=The Boy Toys Of 'Troy' |author=Stephen Hunter |date=May 13, 2004 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=March 31, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080726125943/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25869-2004May13.html |archive-date=July 26, 2008 |url-status=live}} Troy was the first film produced by Plan B Entertainment, a film production company he had founded two years earlier with Jennifer Aniston and Brad Grey, CEO of Paramount Pictures.{{cite news |author=Roger Friedman |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/anistons-star-shines-with-and-without-pitt |title=Aniston's Star Shines With and Without Pitt |access-date=May 16, 2005 |date=November 1, 2005 |publisher=Fox News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609215017/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,174126,00.html |archive-date=June 9, 2011 |url-status=live}} Ocean's Twelve earned $362 million worldwide,{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?view=Actor&id=bradpitt.htm |title=Brad Pitt Movie Box Office Results |website=Box Office Mojo |access-date=December 20, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091120031827/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?view=Actor&id=bradpitt.htm |archive-date=November 20, 2009 |url-status=live}} and Pitt and Clooney's dynamic was described by CNN's Paul Clinton as "the best male chemistry since Paul Newman and Robert Redford."{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/09/review.oceans/index.html |title=Review: 'Ocean's Twelve' high-spirited fun |author=Paul Clinton |date=December 9, 2004 |publisher=CNN: Showbiz/Movies |access-date=December 20, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420013026/http://edition.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/09/review.oceans/index.html |archive-date=April 20, 2016 |url-status=live}} In 2005, Pitt starred as John Smith in the Doug Liman-directed action comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith, in which a bored married couple discover that each is an assassin sent to kill the other. The feature received reasonable reviews but was generally lauded for the chemistry between Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who played his character's wife Jane Smith. The Star Tribune noted that "while the story feels haphazard, the movie gets by on gregarious charm, galloping energy and the stars' thermonuclear screen chemistry".{{cite news |author=Colin Covert |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mr_and_mrs_smith/ |title=Mr. & Mrs. Smith |access-date=September 8, 2008 |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes |work=Minneapolis Star Tribune |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215124516/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mr_and_mrs_smith |archive-date=December 15, 2017 |url-status=live}} Mr. & Mrs. Smith earned $478 million worldwide, making it one of the biggest hits of 2005.{{cite web |url=https://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2005&p=.htm |title=2005 Yearly Box Office Results |website=Box Office Mojo |access-date=January 21, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120130235103/http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2005&p=.htm |archive-date=January 30, 2012 |url-status=live}}

File:BradPittBAR08.jpg in 2008]]

For his next film, Pitt starred opposite Cate Blanchett in Alejandro González Iñárritu's multi-narrative drama Babel (2006).{{cite news|url=https://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2006/12/15/babel_departed_top_golden_globe_picks/|author=Ty Burr|title='Babel,' 'Departed' top Golden Globe picks|date=December 15, 2006|access-date=April 22, 2010|work=The Boston Globe|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113062529/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2006/12/15/babel_departed_top_golden_globe_picks/|archive-date=January 13, 2012|url-status=live}} Pitt's performance was critically well-received, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer said that he was credible and gave the film visibility.{{cite news |url=http://www.seattlepi.com/movies/290909_babel03q.html |title=Three gripping stories intertwine in 'Babel,' a grim view of a borderless world |author=William Arnold |date=November 3, 2006 |work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer |access-date=October 15, 2008 |archive-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321195954/https://www.seattlepi.com/ae/movies/article/Three-gripping-stories-intertwine-in-Babel-a-1218776.php |url-status=live}} Pitt later said he regarded taking the part as one of the best decisions of his career.{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/independent-woman/celebrity-news-gossip/pitts-pitch-brad-babbles-on-in-the-buildup-for-babel-77615.html |title=Pitt's pitch Brad babbles on in the build-up for 'Babel' |date=September 11, 2006 |work=Irish Independent |access-date=December 21, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101104002624/http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/independent-woman/celebrity-news-gossip/pitts-pitch-brad-babbles-on-in-the-buildup-for-babel-77615.html |archive-date=November 4, 2010 |url-status=live}} The film was screened at a special presentation at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival{{cite news|author=Geoff Pevere|title=Babel speaks volumes – Movie lauded as first hit at 2006 Cannes film fest Star Brad Pitt a no-show as he awaits baby's birth|date=May 24, 2006|work=Toronto Star|page=E01}} and was later featured at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival.{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2006-09-10-pitt-toronto_x.htm |title=Babies and 'Babel' loosen Brad Pitt's tongue |author=Harlan Jacobson |date=September 10, 2006 |work=USA Today |access-date=December 20, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304034236/http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2006-09-10-pitt-toronto_x.htm |archive-date=March 4, 2009 |url-status=live}} Babel received seven Academy and Golden Globe award nominations, winning the Best Drama Golden Globe, and earned Pitt a nomination for the Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe. That same year, Pitt's company Plan B Entertainment produced The Departed, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Pitt was credited on-screen as a producer; however, only Graham King was ruled eligible for the Oscar win.{{cite news |url=https://articles.latimes.com/2007/jan/24/business/fi-grey24/2 |title=Academy to ponder credit for 'Departed' |author=Claudia Eller |date=January 24, 2007 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=November 14, 2008 |quote=Along with [Graham] King, [Brad] Grey and his former producing partner, actor Brad Pitt, were given screen credit on the movie by Warner. |page=2 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20171018203740/http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jan/24/business/fi-grey24 |archive-date=October 18, 2017 |url-status=dead}}

Reprising his role as Rusty Ryan in a third picture, Pitt starred in 2007's Ocean's Thirteen.{{cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/oceans-thirteen-pacino-clooney-hot-stuff |title='Ocean's Thirteen': Pacino + Clooney = Hot Stuff |author=Roger Freidman |date=May 24, 2007 |publisher=Fox News |access-date=October 29, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080414133502/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,275238,00.html |archive-date=April 14, 2008 |url-status=live}} While less lucrative than the first two films, this sequel earned $311 million at the international box office. Pitt's next film role was as American outlaw Jesse James in the 2007 Western drama The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, adapted from Ron Hansen's 1983 novel of the same name.{{cite news |author=Manohla Dargis |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/2007/09/21/movies/21assa.html |title=The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) – Movie Review |access-date=May 15, 2008 |date=September 21, 2007 |work=The New York Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527113242/http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/09/21/movies/21assa.html |archive-date=May 27, 2008 |url-status=live}} Directed by Andrew Dominik and produced by Pitt's company Plan B Entertainment, the film premiered at the 2007 Venice Film Festival,{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-09-17-brad-pitt-cover_N.htm |title=Brad Pitt: Hollywood's most wanted man |author=Donna Freydkin |date=September 17, 2007 |work=USA Today |access-date=February 25, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202035211/http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-09-17-brad-pitt-cover_N.htm |archive-date=December 2, 2008 |url-status=live}} with Pitt playing a "scary and charismatic" role, according to Lewis Beale of Film Journal International,{{cite news|url=http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/esearch/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003639817 |title=The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford – Review |access-date=February 25, 2009 |author=Lewis Beale |work=Film Journal International |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101075657/http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/esearch/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003639817 |archive-date=January 1, 2011 |url-status=dead}} and earning Pitt the Volpi Cup award for Best Actor at the 64th Venice International Film Festival.{{cite news|author=Christopher Hastings |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/exclusions/venice-film-festival/nosplit/venice-thewinners.xml |title=Venice Film Festival – the winners |date=December 7, 2007 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=UK |access-date=October 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080914201439/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=%2Farts%2Fexclusions%2Fvenice-film-festival%2Fnosplit%2Fvenice-thewinners.xml |archive-date=September 14, 2008 |url-status=dead}} He eventually collected the award one year later at the 2008 festival.{{cite news |author=Tom O'Neil |url=http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2008/08/brad-pitt-venic.html |title=Brad Pitt finally claims last year's best-actor trophy at the Venice Film Festival |access-date=August 27, 2008 |date=September 9, 2008 |work=Los Angeles Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090820082903/http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2008/08/brad-pitt-venic.html |archive-date=August 20, 2009 |url-status=live}} As of January 2019, it was his own favorite of his films.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.gq.com/story/brad-pitt-gq-style-cover-story |title=Brad Pitt Talks Divorce, Quitting Drinking, and Becoming a Better Man |first=Michael |last=Paternity |date=May 3, 2017 |access-date=January 19, 2019 |magazine=GQ Style |editor-first=Ryan |editor-last=McGinley |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121100357/https://www.gq.com/story/brad-pitt-gq-style-cover-story |archive-date=January 21, 2019 |url-status=live}}

Pitt's next appearance was in the 2008 black comedy Burn After Reading, his first collaboration with the Coen brothers. The film received a positive reception from critics, with The Guardian calling it "a tightly wound, slickly plotted spy comedy",{{cite news |author=Andrew Pulver |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/aug/27/venicefilmfestival.coenbrothers1 |title=Review: Burn After Reading |access-date=October 15, 2008 |date=August 27, 2008 |work=The Guardian |location=UK |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219071701/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/aug/27/venicefilmfestival.coenbrothers1 |archive-date=December 19, 2013 |url-status=live}} noting that Pitt's performance was one of the funniest. He was later cast as Benjamin Button, the lead in David Fincher's 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a loosely adapted version of a 1921 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story follows a man who is born an octogenarian and ages in reverse,{{cite news |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1553713/20070302/story.jhtml |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130104024515/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1553713/20070302/story.jhtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 4, 2013 |title=Director David Fincher: Beyond The Zodiac |author=Kurt Loder |author-link=Kurt Loder |date=March 2, 2007 |publisher=MTV Movie News |access-date=October 30, 2008}} with Pitt's "sensitive" performance making Benjamin Button a "timeless masterpiece", according to Michael Sragow of The Baltimore Sun.{{cite news |title=One for the ages |author=Michael Sragow |date=December 25, 2008 |work=The Baltimore Sun}} The performance earned Pitt his first Screen Actors Guild Award nomination,{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7850879.stm |title=SAG Awards 2009: The winners |date=January 26, 2009 |work=BBC News |access-date=February 26, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090218132102/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7850879.stm |archive-date=February 18, 2009 |url-status=live}} as well as a fourth Golden Globe and second Academy Award nomination, all in the category for Best Actor. The film received thirteen Academy Award nominations, and grossed $329 million at the box office worldwide.

= Established actor (2009–present) =

File:Brad Pitt Cannes 2012.jpg|alt=A Caucasian male has long brown hair pushed back and a short brown beard. He wears a black suit jacket and a white shirt.]]

Pitt's next leading role came in 2009 with the Quentin Tarantino-directed war film Inglourious Basterds, which premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.{{cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1897891,00.html|title=Cannes 2009: Great – or the Greatest – Festival?|first1=Richard|last1=Corliss|first2=Mary|last2=Corliss|date=May 13, 2009|magazine=Time|access-date=September 23, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331063121/http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1897891,00.html|archive-date=March 31, 2014|url-status=live}} Pitt played Lieutenant Aldo Raine, an American resistance fighter battling Nazis in German-occupied France.{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/05/22/tarantino.filmography/index.html |title=Have Tarantino and his 'Inglourious Basterds' got what it takes? |author=Mairi Mackay |date=May 22, 2009 |publisher=CNN: Showbiz/Movies |access-date=May 26, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090525211354/http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/05/22/tarantino.filmography/index.html |archive-date=May 25, 2009 |url-status=live}} The film was a box office hit, taking $311 million worldwide, and garnered generally favorable reviews.{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/inglourious-basterds |title=Inglourious Basterds (2009): Reviews |access-date=December 19, 2009 |date=August 21, 2009 |website=Metacritic |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100818163447/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/inglourious-basterds |archive-date=August 18, 2010 |url-status=live}} The film received multiple awards and nominations, including eight Academy Award nominations and seven MTV Movie Award nominations, including Best Male Performance for Pitt.{{cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/82/nominees.html |title=Nominees & Winners for the 82nd Academy Awards |work=Academy Awards Official Website |access-date=April 19, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100408193211/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/82/nominees.html |archive-date=April 8, 2010 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/ontv/movieawards/2010/|title=2010 MTV Movie Awards|publisher=MTV|access-date=March 31, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100331225625/http://www.mtv.com/ontv/movieawards/2010/|archive-date=March 31, 2010|url-status=dead}} He next voiced the superhero character Metro Man in the 2010 animated feature Megamind.{{cite news|author=Stephen Holden|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/movies/05mega.html|title=Animated Ambiguity, Featuring a Big Head|access-date=November 5, 2010|date=November 5, 2010|work=The New York Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304193500/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/movies/05mega.html|archive-date=March 4, 2014|url-status=live}} Pitt produced and appeared in Terrence Malick's experimental drama The Tree of Life, co-starring Sean Penn, which won the Palme d'Or at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.{{cite magazine|first=Anthony|last=Breznican|url=http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/05/22/cannes-film-festival-2011awards/|title=Cannes Film Festival: Top prizes go to 'Tree of Life,' Kirsten Dunst, 'The Artist'|access-date=May 23, 2011|date=May 22, 2011|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523193504/http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/05/22/cannes-film-festival-2011awards/|archive-date=May 23, 2011|url-status=live}} In a performance that attracted strong praise, he portrayed the Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane in the drama Moneyball, which is based on the 2003 book of the same name written by Michael Lewis.{{cite news|author=Bill Madden|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2010/09/03/2010-09-03_hoping_moneyball_movie_is_not_also_the_pitts.html|title='Moneyball' strategy insufficient for Oakland A's, general manager Billy Beane vs. New York Yankees|access-date=March 3, 2011|date=September 3, 2010|work=Daily News (New York)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100906080042/http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2010/09/03/2010-09-03_hoping_moneyball_movie_is_not_also_the_pitts.html|archive-date=September 6, 2010|url-status=live}} Moneyball received six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Actor for Pitt.{{cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/84/nominees.html|title=Nominees for the 84th Academy Awards|work=Academy Awards Official Website|access-date=January 24, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825202636/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/84/nominees.html|archive-date=August 25, 2013|url-status=live}}

His next role was as mob hitman Jackie Cogan in Andrew Dominik's 2012 Killing Them Softly, based on the novel Cogan's Trade by George V. Higgins.{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10841657|title=Movie review: Killing Them Softly|last=Baillie|first=Russell|date=October 20, 2012|work=The New Zealand Herald|publisher=APN Holdings NZ Limited|access-date=November 17, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121119183045/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10841657|archive-date=November 19, 2012|url-status=live}} In 2013, Pitt starred in World War Z, a thriller about a zombie apocalypse, based on Max Brooks's novel of the same name. Pitt also produced the film.{{cite news|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2013/06/brad-pitt-world-war-z-drama|title=Brad's War|last=Holson|first=Laura M.|date=June 2013|work=Vanity Fair |access-date=June 22, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508123317/http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2013/06/brad-pitt-world-war-z-drama|archive-date=May 8, 2017|url-status=live}} World War Z grossed $540 million at the box office worldwide, becoming Pitt's highest grossing picture.{{cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-milestone-world-war-603984|title=Box Office Milestone: 'World War Z' Becomes Brad Pitt's Top-Grossing Film|last=McClintock|first=Pamela|date=August 11, 2013|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=August 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130813120849/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-milestone-world-war-603984|archive-date=August 13, 2013|url-status=live}} Next in 2013, he produced, and played a small role in, 12 Years a Slave, a historical drama based on the autobiography of Solomon Northup.{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/06/18/12-years-a-slave-movie-first-look/2429803/ |title=First look: 'Twelve Years a Slave' |first=Brian|last=Truitt |date=June 18, 2013 |work=USA Today|access-date=June 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130626042603/http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/06/18/12-years-a-slave-movie-first-look/2429803/ |archive-date=June 26, 2013 |url-status=live}} The film received critical acclaim{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/12-years-a-slave |title=12 Years a Slave |access-date=January 17, 2014 |website=Metacritic |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808104900/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/12-years-a-slave |archive-date=August 8, 2017 |url-status=live}} and was nominated for nine Academy Awards, winning three, including Best Picture.{{cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/86/nominees.html|title=Nominees for the 86th Oscars|work=Academy Awards Official Website|access-date=January 17, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006093645/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/86/nominees.html|archive-date=October 6, 2014|url-status=live}} Also in 2013, Pitt had a supporting role in Ridley Scott's The Counselor.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jun/26/counselor-first-trailer-ridley-scott |title=The Counselor: first trailer for new Ridley Scott film released |first=Ben|last=Child |date=June 26, 2013 |work=The Guardian |access-date=June 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029125104/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jun/26/counselor-first-trailer-ridley-scott |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |url-status=live}} Plan B Entertainment landed its first television series on the 2013–2014 schedule, as their joint venture with ABC Studios, the sci-fi/fantasy drama Resurrection, was picked up by ABC.{{cite news|first=Justin|last=Kroll |url=https://variety.com/2013/film/news/jeremy-kleiner-tapped-as-co-president-of-plan-b-entertainment-1200486686/ |title=Jeremy Kleiner Tapped as Co-President of Plan B Entertainment |access-date=October 8, 2013 |date=May 22, 2013 |work=Variety |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015103915/http://variety.com/2013/film/news/jeremy-kleiner-tapped-as-co-president-of-plan-b-entertainment-1200486686/ |archive-date=October 15, 2013 |url-status=dead}}

File:War Machine Japan Premiere Red Carpet- Brad Pitt (38338138066) (cropped).jpg in 2017]]

Pitt starred in Fury, a World War II film directed and written by David Ayer, and co-starring Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Jon Bernthal, Michael Peña, and Jason Isaacs.{{cite news|last1=Kit|first1=Borys|title=Brad Pitt WWII Thriller 'Fury' to Hit Theaters November 2014|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/brad-pitt-wwii-thriller-fury-436987|newspaper=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=June 6, 2014|date=April 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906115949/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/brad-pitt-wwii-thriller-fury-436987|archive-date=September 6, 2014|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last1=Kroll|first1=Justin|title=Shia LaBeouf in Talks to Join Brad Pitt in WWII Thriller 'Fury' (EXCLUSIVE)|url=https://variety.com/2013/film/news/shia-labeouf-eyes-world-war-ii-pic-fury-with-brad-pitt-1200409503/|newspaper=Variety|access-date=June 6, 2014|date=April 23, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140828150042/http://variety.com/2013/film/news/shia-labeouf-eyes-world-war-ii-pic-fury-with-brad-pitt-1200409503/|archive-date=August 28, 2014|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last1=Davis|first1=Edward|title=First Look: Brad Pitt Is "Wardaddy" In Photos From WWII Tank Movie 'Fury'|url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/first-look-brad-pitt-is-wardaddy-in-photos-from-wwii-tank-movie-fury-20140502|work=IndieWire|access-date=June 6, 2014|date=May 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505185009/http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/first-look-brad-pitt-is-wardaddy-in-photos-from-wwii-tank-movie-fury-20140502|archive-date=May 5, 2014|url-status=dead}} The film was released on October 17, 2014. By the end of its run, Fury proved to be a commercial and critical success; it grossed more than $211 million worldwide and received highly positive reviews from critics.{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fury_2015/ |title=fury (2014) |website=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=July 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703095708/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fury_2015/ |archive-date=July 3, 2015 |url-status=live}} In 2015, Pitt starred opposite his wife, Jolie, in her third directorial effort, By the Sea, a romantic drama about a marriage in crisis, based on her screenplay. The film was their first collaboration since 2005's Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Pitt's next role came with the biographical comedy-drama The Big Short, which he also produced and also co-starred alongside Christian Bale, Steve Carell, and Ryan Gosling. The film was a commercial and critical success. It went on to gross over $102 million worldwide{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=bigshort.htm |title=The Big Short (2015) |website=Box Office Mojo |access-date=February 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130175347/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=bigshort.htm |archive-date=January 30, 2016 |url-status=live}} and received positive reviews from critics.{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_big_short/ |title=The Big Short reviews |website=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=January 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160120165025/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_big_short/ |archive-date=January 20, 2016 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-big-short |title=The Big Short reviews |website=Metacritic |access-date=January 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109150905/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-big-short |archive-date=January 9, 2016 |url-status=live}} The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, earning Pitt his third Academy Award nomination as producer. In 2016, Pitt starred in Robert Zemeckis's romantic thriller Allied, in which he plays an assassin who falls in love with a French spy (played by Marion Cotillard) during a mission to kill a German official in World War II.{{cite news|last1=Hayden|first1=Erik|title=Robert Zemeckis to Direct Brad Pitt Romantic Thriller|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/robert-zemeckis-direct-brad-pitt-770867|access-date=August 3, 2016|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=February 7, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170405054400/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/robert-zemeckis-direct-brad-pitt-770867|archive-date=April 5, 2017|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last1=Geier|first1=Thom|title=Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard to Play Spies and Lovers in Robert Zemeckis' WWII Movie|url=https://www.thewrap.com/brad-pitt-marion-cotillard-to-play-spies-and-lovers-in-robert-zemeckis-wwii-movie/|website=TheWrap|access-date=August 3, 2016|date=June 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210012515/https://www.thewrap.com/brad-pitt-marion-cotillard-to-play-spies-and-lovers-in-robert-zemeckis-wwii-movie/|archive-date=December 10, 2017|url-status=live}} In 2017, he starred in the Netflix satirical war comedy War Machine,{{cite web |last=Couto |first=Anthony |url=https://uk.ign.com/articles/2015/06/08/brad-pitt-to-star-in-netflix-original-movie-war-machine |title=Brad Pitt to Star in Netflix Original Movie, War Machine |website=IGN|date=June 8, 2015 |access-date=November 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190922040512/https://uk.ign.com/articles/2015/06/08/brad-pitt-to-star-in-netflix-original-movie-war-machine |archive-date=September 22, 2019 |url-status=live}} which he also produced.{{Cite news|last1=Kenny|first1=Glenn|title=With 'War Machine', Netflix Bets on Brad Pitt in Afghanistan|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/25/movies/war-machine-netflix-brad-pitt-afghanistan.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 25, 2017|access-date=November 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112132304/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/25/movies/war-machine-netflix-brad-pitt-afghanistan.html|archive-date=November 12, 2017|url-status=live}} Pitt played a recurring role as a weatherman on the late-night talk show The Jim Jefferies Show throughout 2017.{{cite magazine|last1=Weaver|first1=Hilary|title=Brad Pitt Is Still Delivering Doomsday Weather Reports Thanks to Donald Trump|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2017/06/brad-pitt-is-back-delivering-doomsday-weather-reports|access-date=December 20, 2017|magazine=Vanity Fair|date=June 14, 2017|archive-date=April 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220416222841/http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2017/06/brad-pitt-is-back-delivering-doomsday-weather-reports|url-status=live}}

A 2017 sequel to World War Z was in announced in 2016,{{cite web |url=http://www.movienewsguide.com/world-war-z-2-2017-movie-everything-know-director-screenwriter/322166 |title=World War Z 2 (2017) Movie: Everything We Know So Far About Director and Screenwriter |publisher=Movienewsguide.com |date=January 12, 2017 |access-date=January 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170111090403/http://www.movienewsguide.com/world-war-z-2-2017-movie-everything-know-director-screenwriter/322166 |archive-date=January 11, 2017 |url-status=dead}} before the film was briefly delayed, then confirmed to be directed by David Fincher, and then ultimately shelved due to budget issues.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2017/01/05/from-xxx-to-friday-the-13th-paramount-is-betting-on-franchises-and-nostalgia-in-2017/#73dfcbe16e0f |title=From 'xXx' To 'Friday The 13th,' Paramount Is Betting On Franchises And Nostalgia In 2017 |magazine=Forbes |date=January 12, 2017 |access-date=January 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830214814/https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2017/01/05/from-xxx-to-friday-the-13th-paramount-is-betting-on-franchises-and-nostalgia-in-2017/#73dfcbe16e0f |archive-date=August 30, 2017 |url-status=live}}{{cite news|title='World War Z' Sequel Pulled From Release Calendar|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/world-war-z-sequel-pulled-release-calendar-972612|access-date=March 26, 2017|work=The Hollywood Reporter|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170327165528/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/world-war-z-sequel-pulled-release-calendar-972612|archive-date=March 27, 2017|url-status=live}} Pitt starred as Cliff Booth, a stunt double, opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, in Quentin Tarantino's 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, reuniting with DiCaprio after The Departed, which Pitt produced and DiCaprio starred in.{{cite web|last1=Fleming|first1=Mike Jr.|title=Quentin Tarantino Taps Brad Pitt To Join Leonardo DiCaprio In 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood'|url=https://deadline.com/2018/02/quentin-tarantino-brad-pitt-leonardo-dicaprio-once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-1202306448/|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=March 4, 2018|date=February 28, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303190445/http://deadline.com/2018/02/quentin-tarantino-brad-pitt-leonardo-dicaprio-once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-1202306448/|archive-date=March 3, 2018|url-status=live}} For his performance in the film, he received awards for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, BAFTA Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and Critics' Choice Movie Awards.Accolades for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood:

  • Academy Awards: {{cite news|last=Pulver|first=Andrew|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/feb/10/brad-pitt-wins-best-supporting-actor-oscar-for-once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood|title=Brad Pitt wins best supporting actor Oscar for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood|work=The Guardian|date=February 10, 2020|access-date=February 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200210021240/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/feb/10/brad-pitt-wins-best-supporting-actor-oscar-for-once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood|archive-date=February 10, 2020|url-status=live}}
  • BAFTA Awards: {{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/feb/02/baftas-2020-film-winners-full-list|title=The full list of winners at the 2020 Bafta film awards|work=The Guardian|date=February 2, 2020|access-date=February 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200202233655/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/feb/02/baftas-2020-film-winners-full-list|archive-date=February 2, 2020|url-status=live}}
  • Critics' Choice Awards: {{cite news|last=Jackson|first=Angelique|url=https://variety.com/2020/scene/awards/critics-choice-awards-winners-list-2020-1203464376/|title=Critics' Choice Awards: The Complete Winners List|work=Variety|date=January 12, 2020|access-date=January 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113000523/https://variety.com/2020/scene/awards/critics-choice-awards-winners-list-2020-1203464376/|archive-date=January 13, 2020|url-status=live}}
  • Golden Globe Awards: {{cite news|last=Lang|first=Brent|url=https://variety.com/2020/film/awards/golden-globes-2019-biggest-wins-netflix-1203457082/|title=Golden Globes: 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,' '1917' Win Big|date=January 5, 2020|work=Variety|access-date=January 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200108034816/https://variety.com/2020/film/awards/golden-globes-2019-biggest-wins-netflix-1203457082/|archive-date=January 8, 2020|url-status=live}}
  • Screen Actors Guild Awards: {{cite news|url=https://variety.com/2020/film/news/sag-awards-winners-list-2020-screen-actors-guild-1203472568/|title=SAG Awards: The Complete Winners List|work=Variety|date=January 19, 2020|access-date=January 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200120033504/https://variety.com/2020/film/news/sag-awards-winners-list-2020-screen-actors-guild-1203472568/|archive-date=January 20, 2020|url-status=live}} This is the second Academy Award for Brad Pitt, his first that he received for acting.{{Cite news|access-date=February 10, 2020|first=Andrew|last=Pulver|date=February 10, 2020|id=0261-3077|website=The Guardian|title=Brad Pitt wins best supporting actor Oscar for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/feb/10/brad-pitt-wins-best-supporting-actor-oscar-for-once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood|archive-date=February 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200210021240/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/feb/10/brad-pitt-wins-best-supporting-actor-oscar-for-once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood|url-status=live}} In 2019, he also starred in James Gray's deep space epic Ad Astra, in which he played Roy McBride, a space engineer searching the galaxy for his father.{{cite web|last1=Fleming|first1=Mike|title=Tommy Lee Jones To Star With Brad Pitt In Deep-Space Epic|url=https://deadline.com/2017/06/tommy-lee-jones-brad-pitt-ad-astra-james-gray-new-regency-1202119181/|website=Deadline|access-date=September 12, 2017|date=June 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623224233/http://deadline.com/2017/06/tommy-lee-jones-brad-pitt-ad-astra-james-gray-new-regency-1202119181/|archive-date=June 23, 2017|url-status=live}} Pitt's performance was praised as one of his career-best turn,{{cite web |last1=Tallerico |first1=Brian |title=Ad Astra (2019) |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/ad-astra-movie-review-2019 |website=rogerebert.com |access-date=March 13, 2020 |date=September 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200404083208/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/ad-astra-movie-review-2019 |archive-date=April 4, 2020 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |last1=Mottram |first1=James |title=Ad Astra Review: "Brad Pitt is on sensational, Oscar-worthy form in James Gray's Sci-fi masterpiece" |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/ad-astra-review/ |website=gamesrader |publisher=Total Film |access-date=March 13, 2020 |date=August 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417024315/https://www.gamesradar.com/ad-astra-review/ |archive-date=April 17, 2020 |url-status=live}} delivering a performance "that weaponizes passivity into a lethal form of self-defense".{{cite web |last1=Ehrlich |first1=David |title='Ad Astra' Review: James Gray's Space Odyssey Is an Interstellar Masterpiece |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2019/08/ad-astra-review-brad-pitt-james-gray-venice-1202169692/ |website=IndieWire |access-date=March 13, 2020 |date=August 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829202901/https://www.indiewire.com/2019/08/ad-astra-review-brad-pitt-james-gray-venice-1202169692/ |archive-date=August 29, 2019 |url-status=live}} In 2020, Pitt portrayed Dr. Anthony Fauci in the cold open on Saturday Night Live, earning him a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series nomination.{{cite web |last=Vasquez |first=Zach |title=Saturday Night Live: Brad Pitt plays Dr Anthony Fauci in standout virtual episode |website=The Guardian |date=April 27, 2020 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/apr/26/saturday-night-live-brad-pitt-dr-anthony-fauci-virtual-episode |access-date=December 3, 2024}}{{cite magazine |last=Aquilina |first=Tyler |title=Dr. Fauci reacts to Brad Pitt's Emmy nom for playing him on 'SNL': 'It doesn't go to my head' |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=July 29, 2020 |url=https://ew.com/awards/emmys/anthony-fauci-reacts-brad-pitt-emmy-nomination-saturday-night-live/ |access-date=December 3, 2024}}

In 2021, Pitt entered the recording business by creating a company with French record producer Damien Quintard. Set in Pitt's Chateau Miraval in South of France, Miraval Studios re-opened in 2022 after two decades of inactivity. The previous version of the studio was one of the most iconic studios in the world, producing the records for Pink Floyd, the Cranberries, AC/DC, Sade and Muse, among others.{{Cite news|title=Brad Pitt & Damien Quintard Set Reopening Of France's Miraval Studios Recording Facility|website=Deadline|first=Nancy|last=Tartaglione|date=2021-12-13|access-date=2022-07-11|url=https://deadline.com/2021/12/brad-pitt-miraval-studios-reopening-france-1234889821/|archive-date=March 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324175858/https://deadline.com/2021/12/brad-pitt-miraval-studios-reopening-france-1234889821/|url-status=live}} In 2022, Pitt starred in Bullet Train, directed by David Leitch,{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2020/07/brad-pitt-bullet-train-david-leitch-sony-pictures-japanese-action-film-maria-beetle-kotaro-isaka-1202978440/|title=Brad Pitt Commits To Board 'Bullet Train'; David Leitch To Helm Sony Pictures Action Film|website=Deadline Hollywood|first=Mike Jr.|last=Fleming|date=July 6, 2020|access-date=July 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706214757/https://deadline.com/2020/07/brad-pitt-bullet-train-david-leitch-sony-pictures-japanese-action-film-maria-beetle-kotaro-isaka-1202978440/|archive-date=July 6, 2020|url-status=live}} and reunited with his Once Upon a Time in Hollywood co-star Margot Robbie in Babylon, directed by Damien Chazelle.{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/rising-mexican-actor-nabs-critical-role-opposite-margot-robbie-brad-pitt-in-damien-chazelles-babylon|title=Rising Mexican Actor Nabs "Critical" Role Opposite Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt in Damien Chazelle's 'Babylon'|work=The Hollywood Reporter|first=Borys|last=Kit|date=2021-03-16|access-date=2021-03-20|archive-date=April 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421061430/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/rising-mexican-actor-nabs-critical-role-opposite-margot-robbie-brad-pitt-in-damien-chazelles-babylon-4151161/|url-status=live}} On January 5, 2022, he signed on to star in and produce a racing film on Formula One titled F1, directed by Joseph Kosinski,{{Cite web|date=2022-01-05|title=Apple Signs Another Movie Deal with Brad Pitt, This Time for a Formula One Racing Flick|url=https://www.idropnews.com/news/apple-signs-a-second-movie-deal-with-brad-pitt-for-a-formula-one-racing-flick/176665/|access-date=2022-01-06|website=iDrop News|language=en-US|archive-date=January 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220106000415/https://www.idropnews.com/news/apple-signs-a-second-movie-deal-with-brad-pitt-for-a-formula-one-racing-flick/176665/|url-status=dead}} for which he will earn $30 million.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2022/film/features/movie-star-salaries-joaquin-phoenix-joker-2-tom-cruise-1235320046/|title=Inside Movie Stars' Salaries: Joaquin Phoenix Nabs $20M for Joker 2, Tom Cruise Heads to Over $100M and More|date=July 20, 2022|first=Brent|last=Lang|website=Variety|access-date=July 21, 2022|archive-date=July 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220720160107/https://variety.com/2022/film/features/movie-star-salaries-joaquin-phoenix-joker-2-tom-cruise-1235320046/|url-status=live}} He reteamed with George Clooney in Wolfs, a comedy-thriller written and directed by Jon Watts, which was released in September 2024.{{cite web |first1=Patrick |last1=Brzeski |first2=Lily |last2=Ford |title='Wolfs' Director Jon Watts to Miss Venice World Premiere After Catching COVID |website=The Hollywood Reporter |date=September 1, 2024 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/wolfs-director-jon-watts-venice-2024-premiere-covid-1235989060/ |access-date=September 29, 2024}}

Acting credits and accolades

{{see also|Brad Pitt filmography|List of awards and nominations received by Brad Pitt}}

Over his career, Pitt has received numerous awards including two Academy Awards (as a producer and actor), two BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Pitt has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:

Philanthropy and activism

Pitt visited the University of Missouri campus in October 2004 to encourage students to vote in the 2004 U.S. presidential election,{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2004/10/22/ddish.DTL |title=Pitt gets serious for John Kerry |date=October 22, 2004 |work=San Francisco Chronicle |access-date=November 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216072554/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fgate%2Farchive%2F2004%2F10%2F22%2Fddish.DTL |archive-date=December 16, 2008 |url-status=live}} in which he supported John Kerry.{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/People/Star-power-fails-Kerry/2004/11/04/1099362262032.html |title=Star power fails Kerry |author=Marc Lavine |date=November 4, 2004 |work=The Age |location=Australia |access-date=November 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090814001544/http://www.theage.com.au/news/People/Star-power-fails-Kerry/2004/11/04/1099362262032.html |archive-date=August 14, 2009 |url-status=live}} Later in October, he publicly supported the principle of public funding for embryonic stem-cell research. "We have to make sure that we open up these avenues so that our best and our brightest can go find these cures that they believe they will find", he said.{{cite news |author=Tatiana Morales |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stars-clash-in-stem-cell-debate/ |title=Stars Clash In Stem Cell Debate |date=October 29, 2004 |agency=Associated Press |work=CBS News |access-date=November 17, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805234637/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/10/29/entertainment/main652232.shtml |archive-date=August 5, 2009 |url-status=live}} In support of this he endorsed Proposition 71, a California ballot initiative intended to provide state government funding for stem-cell research.{{cite news|url=http://www.nctimes.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/elections/article_963ad9b3-b068-569c-abd1-b15d8ac0c879.html |title=Supporters, foes of Prop. 71 clash as election draws near |author=Bradley J. Fikes |date=October 28, 2004 |work=North County Times |access-date=January 8, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100114141030/http://www.nctimes.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/elections/article_963ad9b3-b068-569c-abd1-b15d8ac0c879.html |archive-date=January 14, 2010 |url-status=dead}}

File:Brad Pitt June 2014 (cropped).jpg

Pitt supports One Campaign, an organization aimed at combating AIDS and poverty in the developing world.{{cite news |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1499708/20050406/u2.jhtml |title=Bono, Brad Pitt Launch Campaign For Third-World Relief |author=Shari Scorca |date=April 6, 2005 |publisher=MTV News |access-date=December 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080229162941/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1499708/20050406/u2.jhtml |archive-date=February 29, 2008 |url-status=dead}}{{cite news |url=http://www.one.org/c/us/pressrelease/195/ |title=Americans wear White Bands in Support of the Fight against Global Aids and Poverty |author=Christopher Lagan |date=March 1, 2005 |work=One Campaign Official Website |access-date=December 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727185641/http://www.one.org/c/us/pressrelease/195/ |archive-date=July 27, 2011 |url-status=live}} He narrated the 2005 PBS public television series Rx for Survival: A Global Health Challenge, which discusses current global health issues.{{cite news |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/rxforsurvival/series/about/series.html |title=Rx for Survival – The Television Broadcasts – The Complete Series |access-date=May 15, 2008 |publisher=Public Broadcasting Service |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213190607/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/rxforsurvival/series/about/series.html |archive-date=December 13, 2007 |url-status=live}} The following year Pitt and Jolie flew to Haiti, where they visited a school supported by Yéle Haïti, a charity founded by Haitian-born hip hop musician Wyclef Jean.{{cite news|url=http://www.salon.com/entertainment/col/fix/2006/01/17/tue/index.html |title=The Fix |author=Scott Lamb |date=January 17, 2006 |work=Salon.com |access-date=January 28, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110209003811/http://www.salon.com/entertainment/col/fix/2006/01/17/tue/index.html |archive-date=February 9, 2011}} In May 2007, Pitt and Jolie donated $1 million to three organizations in Chad and Sudan dedicated to those affected by the crisis in the Darfur region.{{cite news |title=Big Lenders |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2007/05/11/big-lenders/ |date=May 11, 2007 |work=RedEye (Chicago Tribune) |page=72 |quote=Refugee camps in Darfur and neighboring Chad are receiving a big dose of help from Bradgelina. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are donating $1 million to humanitarian efforts there through their Jolie-Pitt Foundation ... The money ... will go to three organizations that help millions of displaced refugees in and around Darfur. |access-date=May 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504160135/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-05-11/news/0705111518_1_jolie-pitt-foundation-darfur-refugee |archive-date=May 4, 2017 |url-status=live}} Along with Clooney, Damon, Don Cheadle, David Pressman, and Jerry Weintraub, Pitt is one of the founders of Not On Our Watch, an organization that focuses global attention on stopping "mass atrocities".{{cite web |url=http://notonourwatchproject.org/who_we_are |title=Not On Our Watch |access-date=June 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917221559/http://notonourwatchproject.org/who_we_are |archive-date=September 17, 2017 |url-status=dead}}

Pitt has a sustained interest in architecture,{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/4387970/Brad-Pitt-interview-why-I-had-to-face-my-own-mortality.html |title=Brad Pitt interview: why I had to face my own mortality |author=John Hiscock |date=January 29, 2009 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=UK |access-date=February 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823001440/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/4387970/Brad-Pitt-interview-why-I-had-to-face-my-own-mortality.html |archive-date=August 23, 2010 |url-status=dead}} even taking time away from film to study computer-aided design at the Los Angeles offices of renowned architect Frank Gehry.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/may/27/urbandesign.arts |title=From Troy to Hove – Brad Pitt's new career |author=Richard Jinman |date=May 27, 2005 |work=The Guardian |location=UK |access-date=February 24, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102001726/http://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/may/27/urbandesign.arts |archive-date=November 2, 2013 |url-status=live}} He narrated e2 design, a PBS television series focused on worldwide efforts to build environmentally friendly structures through sustainable architecture and design.{{cite news |url=https://www.pbs.org/e2/about.html |title=e² |access-date=October 25, 2009 |publisher=Public Broadcasting Service |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091108080557/http://www.pbs.org/e2/about.html |archive-date=November 8, 2009 |url-status=live}} In 2000, he co-authored an architectural book on the Blacker House with the architects Thomas A. Heinz and Randell Makinson.{{Cite book|title=Greene & Greene : the Blacker House|last1=Heinz|first1=Thomas A.|last2=Makinson|first2=Randell L.|last3=Pitt|first3=Brad|date=2000|publisher=Gibbs Smith|isbn=978-0879059491|edition=1st|location=Salt Lake City|oclc=43095954}} In 2006, he founded the Make It Right Foundation, organizing housing professionals in New Orleans to finance and construct 150 sustainable, affordable new houses in New Orleans's Ninth Ward following the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.{{cite news |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2008132684_katrinahomes24.html |title=Brad Pitt's foundation races clock in New Orleans |author=Katy Reckdahl |date=August 23, 2008 |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=November 7, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622015408/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2008132684_katrinahomes24.html |archive-date=June 22, 2011 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-12-03-Pitt_N.htm |title=Brad Pitt plays action hero in New Orleans' recovery |author=Rick Jervis |date=December 3, 2007 |work=USA Today |access-date=November 7, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117164442/http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-12-03-Pitt_N.htm |archive-date=January 17, 2008 |url-status=live}}

The project involves 13 architectural firms and the environmental organization Global Green USA, with several of the firms donating their services.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/15/AR2006071500256.html |title=Pitt Shocked by Post-Katrina Devastation |author=Stacey Plaisance |date=July 15, 2006 |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=November 14, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111043457/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/15/AR2006071500256.html |archive-date=November 11, 2012 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna13908443 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902075242/http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/13908443/ |url-status=live |archive-date=September 2, 2012 |title=Does Jolie lead Hollywood by example? |date=July 17, 2006 |work=Access Hollywood |publisher=MSNBC |access-date=November 14, 2008 |quote=Brad Pitt—whose most recent cause has been close to home and heart—working with Global Green USA ... on a competition to choose ecologically sound designs for rebuilding neighborhoods in post-Katrina New Orleans.}} Pitt and philanthropist Steve Bing have each committed $5 million in donations.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/03/arts/design/03pitt.html |title=Brad Pitt Commissions Designs for New Orleans |author=Robin Pogrebin |date=December 3, 2007 |work=The New York Times |access-date=November 14, 2008 |quote=Mr. Pitt pledged to match $5 million in contributions to the project, as did Steve Bing, the philanthropist. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081209234839/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/03/arts/design/03pitt.html |archive-date=December 9, 2008 |url-status=live}} The first six homes were completed in October 2008,{{cite news|author=Sheila Marikar |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=6033866&page=1 |title=Philanthropist, Photog, Politician, Actor: Who Is Brad Pitt? |access-date=March 2, 2010 |date=October 15, 2008 |work=ABC News |page=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219044116/http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=6033866&page=1 |archive-date=December 19, 2008 |url-status=dead}} and in September 2009 Pitt received an award in recognition of the project from the U.S. Green Building Council, a non-profit trade organization that promotes sustainability in how buildings are designed, built and operated.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8274383.stm |title=Pitt awarded for Orleans project |date=September 25, 2009 |work=BBC News |access-date=September 25, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090928043136/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8274383.stm |archive-date=September 28, 2009 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/09/monster-mash-demoted-nea-communications-chief-resigns-moca-raises-60-million-brad-pitt-honored-for-n.html |title=Monster Mash: Demoted NEA communications chief resigns; MOCA raises $60 million; Brad Pitt honored for New Orleans work |author=David Ng |date=September 25, 2009 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=September 25, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726171943/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/09/monster-mash-demoted-nea-communications-chief-resigns-moca-raises-60-million-brad-pitt-honored-for-n.html |archive-date=July 26, 2010 |url-status=live}} Pitt met with U.S. President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi in March 2009 to promote his concept of green housing as a national model and to discuss federal funding possibilities.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/4950354/Barack-Obama-welcomes-Brad-Pitt-to-White-House.html |title=Barack Obama welcomes Brad Pitt to White House |author=Toby Harnden |date=March 6, 2009 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=UK |access-date=March 26, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090310040620/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/4950354/Barack-Obama-welcomes-Brad-Pitt-to-White-House.html |archive-date=March 10, 2009 |url-status=dead}}

In September 2006, Pitt and Jolie established a charitable organization, the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, to aid humanitarian causes around the world.{{cite book|title=Celebrities' Most Wanted™: The Top 10 Book of Lavish Lifestyles, Tabloid Tidbits, and Other Superstar Oddities|first=Marjorie|last=Hellenbeck-Huber|publisher=Potomac Books|page=264|year=2010|isbn=978-1597975100}} The foundation made initial donations of $1 million each to Global Action for Children and Doctors Without Borders,{{cite news |url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,1537302,00.html |title=Brad & Angelina Start Charitable Group |author=Mary Green |date=September 20, 2006 |work=People |access-date=March 26, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205185346/http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,1537302,00.html |archive-date=February 5, 2009 |url-status=dead}} followed by an October 2006 donation of $100,000 to the Daniel Pearl Foundation, an organization created in memory of the late American journalist Daniel Pearl.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pitt-jolie-donate-to-pearl-foundation/ |title=Pitt, Jolie Donate To Pearl Foundation |author=Amy Bonawitz |date=October 10, 2006 |work=CBS News |access-date=March 26, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090827125100/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/10/entertainment/main2077328.shtml |archive-date=August 27, 2009 |url-status=live}} According to federal filings, Pitt and Jolie invested $8.5 million into the foundation in 2006; it gave away $2.4 million in 2006{{cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/angelina-jolie-and-brad-pitts-charity-bravo |title=Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's Charity: Bravo |author=Roger Friedman |date=March 21, 2008 |publisher=Fox News |access-date=March 31, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325150526/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,340208,00.html?sPage=fnc%2Fentertainment%2Fcelebrity%2Fpitt |archive-date=March 25, 2009 |url-status=live}} and $3.4 million in 2007.{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2009/03/11/brad-angie-e/|title=Brad and Angie Get $$ from E! |author=Roger Friedman|date=March 11, 2009|publisher=Fox News|access-date=March 31, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101115175842/http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2009/03/11/brad-angie-e/|archive-date=November 15, 2010|url-status=dead}} In June 2009, the Jolie-Pitt Foundation donated $1 million to a U.N. refugee agency to help Pakistanis displaced by fighting between troops and Taliban militants.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8108543.stm |title=Jolie and Pitt donate to Pakistan |date=June 19, 2009 |work=BBC News |access-date=June 19, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090622130616/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8108543.stm |archive-date=June 22, 2009 |url-status=live}} In January 2010, the foundation donated $1 million to Doctors Without Borders for emergency medical assistance to help victims of the Haiti earthquake.{{cite news |author=Dave Itzkoff |url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/haitian-earthquake-spurs-stars-to-action/ |title=Haitian Earthquake Spurs Stars to Action |access-date=January 14, 2010 |date=January 14, 2010 |work=The New York Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117152400/http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/haitian-earthquake-spurs-stars-to-action/ |archive-date=January 17, 2010 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |author=Lyneka Little |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/01/14/morning-report-dexter-star-recovers-from-cancer-angelina-jolie-and-brad-pitt-help-haiti-obama-gets-the-musical-treatment/ |title=Morning Report: "Dexter" Star Recovers From Cancer, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Help Haiti, Obama Gets the Musical Treatment |access-date=January 14, 2010 |date=January 14, 2010 |work=The Wall Street Journal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117004621/http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/01/14/morning-report-dexter-star-recovers-from-cancer-angelina-jolie-and-brad-pitt-help-haiti-obama-gets-the-musical-treatment/ |archive-date=January 17, 2010 |url-status=live}}

Pitt is a supporter of same-sex marriage.{{cite news|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/brad-pitt-angelina-jolie-get-married-298737|title=Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie To Get Married?|first=Nadine|last=DeNinno|work=International Business Times|date=July 14, 2011|access-date=September 23, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928115717/http://www.ibtimes.com/brad-pitt-angelina-jolie-get-married-298737|archive-date=September 28, 2013|url-status=live}} In an October 2006 interview with Esquire, Pitt said that he would marry Jolie when everyone in America is legally able to marry.{{cite news|author=Brad Pitt |url=http://www.esquire.com/features/hollywood/ESQ1006ESQ1006_164R_2 |title=My List |date=October 1, 2006 |access-date=March 15, 2010 |work=Esquire |page=2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101104002611/http://www.esquire.com/features/hollywood/ESQ1006ESQ1006_164R_2 |archive-date=November 4, 2010 |url-status=dead}} In September 2008, he donated $100,000 to the campaign against California's 2008 ballot proposition Proposition 8, an initiative to overturn the state Supreme Court decision that had legalized same-sex marriage.{{cite news |url=https://variety.com/2008/film/markets-festivals/pitt-takes-a-stand-against-prop-8-1117992373/ |title=Pitt takes a stand against Prop 8 |first=Ted|last=Johnson |date=September 17, 2008 |work=Variety |access-date=November 17, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710173201/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117992373 |archive-date=July 10, 2011 |url-status=live}} In March 2012, Pitt was featured in a performance of Dustin Lance Black's play, 8 – a staged reenactment of the federal trial that overturned California's Prop 8 ban on same-sex marriage – as Judge Vaughn Walker.{{cite news|first=David|last=Ng|title=Brad Pitt joins cast of '8' play reading in L.A.|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2012/03/brad-pitt-joins-cast-of-8-play-reading-in-la.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=March 17, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305004053/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2012/03/brad-pitt-joins-cast-of-8-play-reading-in-la.html|archive-date=March 5, 2012|url-status=live}} In September 2012, Pitt reaffirmed his support for Obama, saying, "I am an Obama supporter and I'm backing his U.S. election campaign."{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/9530393/Brad-Pitt-Why-my-mother-is-wrong-about-Barack-Obama-and-gay-marriage.html|title=Brad Pitt: Why my mother is wrong about Barack Obama and gay marriage|first=Richard|last=Eden|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=September 9, 2012|access-date=December 14, 2013|location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140117195851/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/9530393/Brad-Pitt-Why-my-mother-is-wrong-about-Barack-Obama-and-gay-marriage.html|archive-date=January 17, 2014|url-status=live}} In October 2020, he narrated an advertisement for Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign.{{cite news|last1=Pitofsky|first1=Marina|url=https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/522613-brad-pitt-narrates-biden-ad-airing-during-world-series|title=Brad Pitt narrates Biden ad airing during World Series|newspaper=The Hill|date=October 24, 2020|access-date=October 25, 2020|archive-date=October 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025134043/https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/522613-brad-pitt-narrates-biden-ad-airing-during-world-series|url-status=live}}

Personal life

=Relationships and marriages=

File:Angelina Jolie Brad Pitt Cannes.jpg at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival|alt=A Caucasian man and woman in the foreground of the image, while others are visible behind them. The woman has brown hair, which is tied back. The man has his dark brown hair parted. He is wearing a black suit and bow-tie with a white shirt.]]

From the late 1980s to early 1990s, Pitt was romantically involved with several of his co-stars, including Shalane McCall (Dallas),Thomas, Brett (July 20, 1997). [https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/120110791 "The Ex-Files"]. The Sydney Morning Herald. Robin Givens (Head of the Class),{{cite news |url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20122540,00.html |title=Love Lost |first=Tom |last=Gliatto |date=June 30, 1997 |work=People |access-date=February 25, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301041953/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20122540,00.html |archive-date=March 1, 2009 |url-status=live}} Jill Schoelen (Cutting Class), Geena Davis (Thelma & Louise),{{cite web|title=Jason Priestley talks about old roommate Brad Pitt|url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/jason-priestley-talks-about-old-roommate-brad-pitt|publisher=Fox News|date=May 11, 2014}} and Juliette Lewis (Too Young to Die? and Kalifornia). McCall and Lewis were 15 and 16 respectively when Pitt started dating them.{{cite web |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/brad-pitt-reflects-on-romance-with-juliette-lewis-i-still-love-the-woman/ar-AA1crti6 |title=MSN |website=MSN |access-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-date=May 23, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240523002444/https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/brad-pitt-reflects-on-romance-with-juliette-lewis-i-still-love-the-woman/ar-AA1crti6 |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/660976-when-brad-pitt-opened-up-on-his-then-17-year-old-ex-juliette-lewis-i-still-love-the-woman |title=When Brad Pitt opened up on his then 17-year-old ex Juliette Lewis: 'I still love the woman' |access-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-date=May 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523111153/https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/660976-when-brad-pitt-opened-up-on-his-then-17-year-old-ex-juliette-lewis-i-still-love-the-woman |url-status=live}}{{cite web |last1=O'Toole |first1=Scarlett |title=Inside Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis' romance as he admits he 'still loves this woman' |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/us-celebrity-news/inside-brad-pitt-juliette-lewis-30115706 |website=Daily Mirror |access-date=8 March 2025 |date=4 June 2023}} Subsequently, Pitt had a much-publicized romance and engagement to his Seven co-star, Gwyneth Paltrow, whom he dated from 1994 to 1997.

Pitt met actress Jennifer Aniston in 1998; they married in a private wedding ceremony in Malibu on July 29, 2000.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4156907.stm |title=Pitt and Aniston announce split |date=January 8, 2005 |work=BBC News |access-date=March 19, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301153537/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4156907.stm |archive-date=March 1, 2009 |url-status=live}} In January 2005, Pitt and Aniston announced they had decided to separate. Two months later, Aniston filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-08-22-aniston-pitt-divorce_x.htm |title=Judge signs Aniston-Pitt divorce papers |date=August 22, 2005 |agency=Associated Press |work=USA Today |access-date=November 14, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113125723/http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-08-22-aniston-pitt-divorce_x.htm |archive-date=January 13, 2012 |url-status=live}} Pitt and Aniston's divorce was finalized by the Los Angeles Superior Court on October 2, 2005. Despite media reports that Pitt and Aniston had an acrimonious relationship, Pitt said in a February 2009 interview that he and Aniston "check in with each other", adding that they were both big parts of each other's lives.{{cite news|url=http://www.wmagazine.com/celebrities/2009/02/brad_pitt |title=Brad Pitt |author=Kevin West |access-date=February 24, 2009 |date=February 2009 |work=W |page=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226033305/http://www.wmagazine.com/celebrities/2009/02/brad_pitt |archive-date=December 26, 2010 |url-status=dead}}

During Pitt's divorce proceedings, his involvement with his Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-star Angelina Jolie attracted media attention. Jolie and Pitt stated that they fell in love on the set{{cite magazine|author=Mark Binelli|title=Brad Pitt: The Rolling Stone Interview|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=December 25, 2008|access-date=August 27, 2017|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/features/the-rolling-stone-interview-brad-pitt-20081225|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018214958/http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/features/the-rolling-stone-interview-brad-pitt-20081225|archive-date=October 18, 2017|url-status=dead}} and that there was no infidelity.{{Cite news|author=Mark Harris|title=The Mommy Track|work=The New York Times|date=October 15, 2008|access-date=August 27, 2017|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/movies/19harr.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150504103549/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/movies/19harr.html|archive-date=May 4, 2015|url-status=live}} In April 2005, one month after Aniston filed for divorce, a set of paparazzi photographs emerged showing Pitt, Jolie, and her son Maddox at a beach in Kenya; the press interpreted the pictures as evidence of a relationship between Pitt and Jolie. Throughout 2005, the two were seen together with increasing frequency, and the entertainment media dubbed the couple "Brangelina".{{cite news |author=Robin Stummer |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/to-brad-and-angelina-a-c-section-and-the-keys-to-a-hysterical-nation-620708.html |title=To Brad and Angelina: a C-section (and the keys to a hysterical nation) |access-date=August 18, 2021 |date=July 20, 2013 |work=The Independent |location=UK |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818143149/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/to-brad-and-angelina-a-c-section-and-the-keys-to-a-hysterical-nation-620708.html |url-status=live}} On January 11, 2006, Jolie confirmed to People that she was pregnant with Pitt's child, thereby publicly acknowledging their relationship for the first time.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1493502|title=Report: Jolie and Pitt Expecting Baby|work=ABC News|date=January 11, 2006|access-date=February 25, 2021|archive-date=October 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020175737/https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1493502|url-status=live}} Pitt and Jolie announced their engagement in April 2012 after seven years together.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/entertainment-us-angelinajolie-idUSBRE83C1BI20120413|title=Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt engaged: official|work=Reuters|date=April 13, 2012|access-date=April 13, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129065259/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/13/entertainment-us-angelinajolie-idUSBRE83C1BI20120413|archive-date=November 29, 2014|url-status=live}} They were legally married on August 14, 2014, and had their wedding in a private ceremony at the Château Miraval, France, on August 23, 2014.{{cite web|author1=Michael Rothman|title=All the Details: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Are Married|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/brad-pitt-angelina-jolie-married-france/story?id=25157846|work=ABC News|access-date=August 28, 2014|date=August 28, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108233049/http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/brad-pitt-angelina-jolie-married-france/story?id=25157846|archive-date=January 8, 2015|url-status=live}} On September 19, 2016, Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt, citing irreconcilable differences.{{cite news|title=Angelina Jolie files for divorce from Brad Pitt 'for the health of the family'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/20/angelina-jolie-and-brad-pitt-to-divorce/|access-date=September 20, 2016|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=September 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920171052/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/20/angelina-jolie-and-brad-pitt-to-divorce/|archive-date=September 20, 2016|url-status=live}} On April 12, 2019, the divorce became legal.{{cite web|url=https://theblast.com/angelina-jolie-brad-pitt-are-officially-single/|title=Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt Are Officially Single|date=April 12, 2019|access-date=April 13, 2019|publisher=The Blast|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413165316/https://theblast.com/angelina-jolie-brad-pitt-are-officially-single/|archive-date=April 13, 2019|url-status=live}}{{cite news|date=July 23, 2021|title=Win for Angelina Jolie as court disqualified judge in Brad Pitt divorce case|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/23/angelina-jolie-brad-pitt-divorce-judge-court|work=The Guardian|access-date=July 25, 2021|quote=They were declared divorced in April 2019, after their lawyers asked for a judgment that allowed a married couple to be declared single while other issues remained, including finances and child custody.|archive-date=April 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411223835/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/23/angelina-jolie-brad-pitt-divorce-judge-court|url-status=live}} After Pitt sued Jolie for selling her share of a winery they owned to a third party, she filed a countersuit, in which she alleged that he physically and verbally abused her and their children during a plane flight in 2016.{{cite web|last1=Jacobs|first1=Julia|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/04/movies/angelina-jolie-brad-pitt-lawsuit.html|title=Angelina Jolie Details Abuse Allegations Against Brad Pitt in Countersuit|work=The New York Times|url-access=limited|date=October 4, 2022|access-date=October 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004182537/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/04/movies/angelina-jolie-brad-pitt-lawsuit.html|archive-date=October 4, 2022|url-status=live}}

In 2022, he began dating Ines de Ramon (b. 1992), a jewelry designer.{{Cite news |last=Reslen |first=Eileen |date=2022-12-19 |title=Brad Pitt's new girlfriend is half his age |work=News.com.au |url=https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/hook-ups-break-ups/brad-pitts-new-girlfriend-is-half-his-age/news-story/a2eaa28a6f0ecf81d9663d6290409096 |access-date=January 2, 2023 |archive-date=December 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219114739/https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/hook-ups-break-ups/brad-pitts-new-girlfriend-is-half-his-age/news-story/a2eaa28a6f0ecf81d9663d6290409096 |url-status=live}}

=Children=

In July 2005, Pitt accompanied Jolie to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where she adopted her second child, a girl named Zahara.{{cite news|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20148166,00.html|work=People|date=July 18, 2005|volume=64|issue=3|title=Angelina Adopts a Girl: And Baby Makes Three|first1=Michelle|last1=Tauber|first2=Jennifer|last2=Wulff|access-date=January 8, 2015|quote=As of July 6, the actress and United Nations activist was expected to have officially signed papers and obtained a passport stamp for a relatively newborn Ethiopian girl...|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109002436/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20148166,00.html|archive-date=January 9, 2015|url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/20/acd.01.html |title=Angelina Jolie: Her Mission and Motherhood |access-date=October 14, 2008 |date=June 20, 2006 |publisher=CNN Transcripts |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018204641/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/20/acd.01.html |archive-date=October 18, 2017 |url-status=live}} On December 3, 2005, Pitt was in the process of becoming the adoptive father of Jolie's daughter, and Jolie's first adopted child, a boy named Maddox.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4494544.stm |title=Brad Pitt to adopt Jolie children |date=December 3, 2005 |publisher=BBC |access-date=July 26, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918235935/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4494544.stm |archive-date=September 18, 2015 |url-status=live}} On January 19, 2006, a California judge granted Jolie's request to change the children's surnames from "Jolie" to "Jolie-Pitt".{{cite news |url=http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/10927183/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430041852/http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/10927183 |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 30, 2011 |title=Judge says Jolie's children can take Pitt's name |access-date=May 15, 2008 |date=January 19, 2006 |publisher=MSNBC |agency=Associated Press}} The adoptions were finalized soon after.{{cite news |author=Daren Briscoe |url=http://www.newsweek.com/2006/07/02/the-giving-back-awards-15-people-who-make-america-great.html |title=The Giving Back Awards: 15 People Who Make America Great |work=Newsweek |date=July 3, 2006 |access-date=March 14, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109002517/http://www.newsweek.com/2006/07/02/the-giving-back-awards-15-people-who-make-america-great.html |archive-date=January 9, 2015 |url-status=live}}

Jolie gave birth to their daughter Shiloh in Swakopmund, Namibia, on May 27, 2006. Pitt confirmed that she would qualify for a Namibian passport.{{cite news |url=http://www.cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/07/lol.03.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120729210216/http://www.cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/07/lol.03.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 29, 2012 |title=CNN Transcripts |date=June 7, 2006 |work=CNN|access-date=November 14, 2008}} The couple sold the first pictures of their daughter through the distributor Getty Images; the North American rights were purchased by People for over $4.1 million, while Hello! obtained the British rights for approximately $3.5 million. The proceeds from the sale were donated to charities serving African children.{{cite web|first=Lacey|last=Rose|url=https://www.forbes.com/2007/07/17/celebrities-photojournalism-magazines-biz-media-cx_lr_0718celebphotos.html|title=The Most Expensive Celebrity Photos|website=Forbes|date=July 18, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129234930/http://www.forbes.com/2007/07/17/celebrities-photojournalism-magazines-biz-media-cx_lr_0718celebphotos.html |archive-date=November 29, 2014|access-date=September 30, 2011}} Madame Tussauds in New York unveiled a wax figure of the two-month-old; it marked the first time an infant had been honoured with a statue in the museum.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5219448.stm |title=Jolie-Pitt baby model on display |date=July 27, 2006 |work=BBC News |access-date=November 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216072533/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5219448.stm |archive-date=December 16, 2008 |url-status=live}}

On March 15, 2007, Jolie adopted a 3-year-old boy, Pax, from an orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/angelina-jolie-happy-to-focus-on-new-son/ |title=Angelina Jolie Happy To Focus On New Son |access-date=March 1, 2010 |date=March 16, 2007 |work=CBS News |agency=Associated Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101111093026/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/16/entertainment/main2577018.shtml |archive-date=November 11, 2010 |url-status=live}} Pitt adopted the boy in the United States on February 21, 2008.{{cite book|title=Bilingual Siblings: Language Use in Families|first=Suzanne|last=Barron-Hauwaert|page=150|publisher=Multilingual Matters|year=2010|isbn=978-1847694928}} At the Cannes Film Festival in May 2008, Jolie confirmed that she was expecting twins.{{cite news |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/cannes/article3937167.ece |title=Jack Black confirms Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt twin rumours |first=Simon|last=Crerar |date=May 15, 2008 |work=The Times |access-date=March 1, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080718210843/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/cannes/article3937167.ece |archive-date=July 18, 2008 |url-status=dead}} She gave birth to son and daughter, Knox and Vivienne, on July 12, 2008, in Nice, France.{{cite web|title=Jon Voight "So Excited" About His New Brangelina Grandkids|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/15/jon-voight-so-excited-abo_n_112793.html|website=The Huffington Post|access-date=June 18, 2014|date=July 15, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906114527/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/15/jon-voight-so-excited-abo_n_112793.html|archive-date=September 6, 2014|url-status=live}} The rights for the first images of the twins were jointly sold to People and Hello! for $14 million—the most expensive celebrity pictures ever taken.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2498869/Brad-Pitt-and-Angelina-Jolie-Twins-have-brought-wonderful-chaos-to-our-lives.html |title=Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie: Twins have brought 'wonderful chaos' to our lives |first=Anita|last=Singh |date=August 4, 2008 |work=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=October 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110202142129/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2498869/Brad-Pitt-and-Angelina-Jolie-Twins-have-brought-wonderful-chaos-to-our-lives.html |archive-date=February 2, 2011 |url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=http://int-today.msnbc.msn.com/id/25967334/ns/entertainment-celebrities/ |title=Source: Jolie-Pitt baby pics fetch $14 million |date=August 1, 2008 |agency=Associated Press |website=MSNBC |access-date=October 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101223123632/http://int-today.msnbc.msn.com/id/25967334/ns/entertainment-celebrities |archive-date=December 23, 2010 |url-status=dead}} The couple donated the proceeds to the Jolie-Pitt Foundation.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/aug/05/celebrity.pressandpublishing |title=The world's costliest baby snaps: £7m for the Brangelina twins |first=Stephen |last=Brook |date=August 5, 2008 |work=The Guardian |access-date=October 26, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219070649/http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/aug/05/celebrity.pressandpublishing |archive-date=December 19, 2013 |url-status=live}}

Since Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt on September 19, 2016, they have been embroiled in a custody battle over their children. Jolie had full custody until May 2021 when Pitt was granted joint custody, over four and a half years after proceedings began.{{cite news|date=May 26, 2021|title=Brad Pitt awarded joint custody of children with Angelina Jolie|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-57259969|url-status=live|work=BBC News|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210528210732/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-57259969|archive-date=May 28, 2021|access-date=November 12, 2021}} However, in July, Los Angeles superior court judge John W. Ouderkirk was removed from the case due to concerns over his impartiality as he did not sufficiently disclose business relationships with Pitt's lawyers. This resulted in the custody arrangement reverting to a previous November 2018 agreement where Jolie has primary physical custody while Pitt has "custodial time" with their minor children.{{cite news|last=White|first=Debbie|date=October 28, 2021|title=Angelina Jolie wins latest round in bitter custody battle with Brad Pitt|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/article/angelina-jolie-wins-latest-round-in-bitter-custody-battle-with-brad-pitt-58g7hs5hv|url-status=live|work=The Times|archive-url=https://archive.today/20211028110435/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/angelina-jolie-wins-latest-round-in-bitter-custody-battle-with-brad-pitt-58g7hs5hv|archive-date=October 28, 2021|access-date=November 12, 2021|url-access=limited}}{{cite news|last=Sachdeva|first=Maanya|date=October 28, 2021|title=Brad Pitt's custody petition for review in custody case with Angelina Jolie denied|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/brad-pitt-angelina-jolie-divorce-b1946772.html|url-status=live|work=The Independent|archive-url=https://archive.today/20211112033806/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/brad-pitt-angelina-jolie-divorce-b1946772.html|archive-date=November 12, 2021|access-date=November 12, 2021}}

=Abuse allegation=

In September 2016, the FBI and the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services investigated Pitt for child abuse following an incident on a plane, where Pitt was accused by an anonymous person of being "verbally abusive" and "physical" towards one of his children.{{cite magazine|title=Brad Pitt Investigated for Alleged Child Abuse After Incident on Private Plane|url=https://people.com/celebrity/brad-pitt-investigated-for-child-abuse/|magazine=People|date=September 22, 2016|access-date=November 12, 2021|archive-date=March 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210317223511/https://people.com/celebrity/brad-pitt-investigated-for-child-abuse/|url-status=live}} Pitt was not criminally charged for the incident by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, or by the FBI.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/brad-pitt-cleared-in-child-abuse-investigation-report-w449619/|title=Brad Pitt Cleared in Child Abuse Investigation|first=Sierra|last=Marquina|magazine=Us Weekly|date=November 9, 2016|access-date=March 18, 2021|archive-date=October 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023001528/https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/brad-pitt-cleared-in-child-abuse-investigation-report-w449619/|url-status=live}}

In 2022, Jolie filed a countersuit against Pitt during a legal battle over their formerly co-owned vineyard. Jolie's lawyers stated that during negotiations, Pitt had asked Jolie to sign "a nondisclosure agreement prohibiting her from speaking outside of court about his abuse of her and their children."{{cite news |last1=Jacobs |first1=Julia |title=Angelina Jolie Details Abuse Allegations Against Brad Pitt in Countersuit |work=The New York Times |date=October 4, 2022 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/04/movies/angelina-jolie-brad-pitt-lawsuit.html |access-date=February 12, 2024 |archive-date=October 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004182537/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/04/movies/angelina-jolie-brad-pitt-lawsuit.html |url-status=live}} Her complaint stated that he grabbed and shook her during the plane ride, strangled one of their children, and struck another in the face, among other allegations.

=Alcohol and drug use=

In September 2016, Pitt got sober and began attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/04/movies/brad-pitt-ad-astra.html|first=Kyle|last=Buchanan|title=The Planets, the Stars and Brad Pitt|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 4, 2019|access-date=March 18, 2021|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310122128/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/04/movies/brad-pitt-ad-astra.html|url-status=live}} In December 2019, he wrote an article for Interview in which he talked with his Legends of the Fall and Meet Joe Black costar and fellow recovering alcoholic Anthony Hopkins about their experiences with addiction and recovery.{{cite magazine|first=Brad|last=Pitt|url=https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/anthony-hopkins-talks-to-brad-pitt-about-movies-mortality-and-mistakes|title=Anthony Hopkins Talks to Brad Pitt About Movies, Mortality, and Mistakes|magazine=Interview|date=December 2, 2019|access-date=March 18, 2021|archive-date=March 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320062901/https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/anthony-hopkins-talks-to-brad-pitt-about-movies-mortality-and-mistakes|url-status=live}} Pitt credits fellow actor Bradley Cooper with helping him in his sobriety.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2024/02/brad-pitt-bradley-coopers-oscar-directing-snub-hes-used-to-it-hes-a-philadelphia-eagles-fan-watch-1235820991/|title=Brad Pitt Roasts Pal Bradley Cooper Over Oscar Directing Snub: "He's Used To It. He's a Philadelphia Eagles Fan" – Watch|last=Tapp|first=Tom|website=Deadline|date=February 9, 2024|access-date=February 9, 2024|language=en|archive-date=February 10, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240210000459/https://deadline.com/2024/02/brad-pitt-bradley-coopers-oscar-directing-snub-hes-used-to-it-hes-a-philadelphia-eagles-fan-watch-1235820991/|url-status=live}}

Pitt has admitted to using cannabis in the late 1990s as a way to deal with his increasing fame.{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Nate |date=September 20, 2016 |title=Brad Pitt's Battle With Marijuana: a History |url=https://www.vulture.com/2016/09/brad-pitts-battle-with-marijuana-a-history.html |access-date=2022-06-25 |website=Vulture |language=en-us |archive-date=June 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625153422/https://www.vulture.com/2016/09/brad-pitts-battle-with-marijuana-a-history.html |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |last2= |first2= |date=2012-01-25 |title=Oscar Nominee Brad Pitt On The Unmentionables: Marriage, Politics and Religion |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/brad-pitt-angelina-jolie-oscars-moneyball-tree-of-life-284533/ |access-date=2022-06-25 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US |archive-date=June 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625152919/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/brad-pitt-angelina-jolie-oscars-moneyball-tree-of-life-284533/ |url-status=live}} According to Pitt: "I was hiding out from the celebrity thing; I was smoking way too much dope; I was sitting on the couch and just turning into a doughnut."{{Cite web |date=2016-09-21 |title=If Brangelina broke up over marijuana, what could it mean for their divorce? |url=http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/21/brad-pitt-angelina-jolie-brangelina-divorce-marijuana-use |access-date=2022-06-25 |website=The Guardian |language=en |archive-date=June 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625152922/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/21/brad-pitt-angelina-jolie-brangelina-divorce-marijuana-use |url-status=live}} He reduced his cannabis use and focused on his work after a trip to Morocco, where he witnessed extreme poverty and suffering.

= Prosopagnosia =

In 2022, Pitt said that he had struggled for years to recognize people's faces due to prosopagnosia (face blindness).{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/06/well/mind/prosopagnosia-face-blindness.html|title=What Is Prosopagnosia, a Condition That Causes 'Face Blindness'|work=The New York Times|first=Dani|last=Blum|date=2022-07-06|access-date=2022-07-08|archive-date=July 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708022729/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/06/well/mind/prosopagnosia-face-blindness.html|url-status=live}} In a 2013 interview, he said that his inability to recognize people's faces had become so severe that he often wanted to stay home.{{cite web|url=https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/interviews/a22679/brad-pitt-cover-interview-0613/|title=Brad Pitt: A Life So Large|work=Esquire|first=Tom|last=Junod|date=2013-05-20|access-date=2022-07-08|archive-date=July 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708013837/https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/interviews/a22679/brad-pitt-cover-interview-0613/|url-status=live}} Formally, however, Pitt has not been diagnosed with prosopagnosia.{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/07/entertainment/brad-pitt-facial-blindness/index.html|title=Brad Pitt says he suffers from facial blindness|publisher=CNN|author=Chloe Melas|date=2022-07-07|access-date=2022-07-08|archive-date=July 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707222550/https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/07/entertainment/brad-pitt-facial-blindness/index.html|url-status=live}}

=Artworks=

Pitt has an interest in art, learned pottery,{{cite web |url=https://www.etonline.com/brad-pitt-on-how-pottery-became-his-pandemic-hobby-exclusive-188406 |title=Brad Pitt on How Pottery Became His Pandemic Hobby |date=August 2022 |work=ET Online |access-date=September 20, 2022 |archive-date=September 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920225258/https://www.etonline.com/brad-pitt-on-how-pottery-became-his-pandemic-hobby-exclusive-188406 |url-status=live}} and has created sculptures. Nine of his sculptures were exhibited together with works by musician Nick Cave and artist Thomas Houseago at the Sara Hildén Art Museum in Tampere, Finland, in 2022 and 2023.{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/brad-pitt-sculpture-exhibition-tan/index.html |title=Brad Pitt makes his debut as a sculptor in Finland exhibition |work=CNN |date=September 20, 2020 |access-date=September 20, 2022 |archive-date=September 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920225258/https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/brad-pitt-sculpture-exhibition-tan/index.html |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/sep/20/shockingly-brad-pitt-turns-out-to-be-a-very-fine-sculptor |title=Shockingly, Brad Pitt turns out to be a very fine sculptor |first=Jonathan |last=Jones |work=The Guardian |access-date=September 20, 2022 |archive-date=September 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920225258/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/sep/20/shockingly-brad-pitt-turns-out-to-be-a-very-fine-sculptor |url-status=live}}

Public image

File:BradPitt.jpg|alt=A male with dyed blonde hair is being interviewed. He is wearing a black suit and tie, with a white shirt, and is standing on a red carpet. People standing behind barricades are visible in the background, while microphones are visible in the foreground.]]

Pitt has been frequently cited as one of the most attractive actors of all time and has been described as a sex symbol by many sources, including Empire, who named him one of the 25 sexiest stars in film history in 1995.{{cite news |author=Jeanna Bryner |title=Study: Men With 'Cavemen' Faces Most Attractive to Women |publisher=Fox News |date=August 23, 2007 |access-date=January 1, 2008 |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,294134,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080110020921/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,294134,00.html |archive-date=January 10, 2008 |url-status=dead}} The same year, he was named People{{'}}s Sexiest Man Alive, an accolade he received again in 2000.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1003789.stm |title=Brad Pitt 'Sexiest Man Alive' |date=November 2, 2000 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=November 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117083732/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1003789.stm |archive-date=January 17, 2012 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/george-clooney-sizes-up-brad-pitts-feet/ |title=George Clooney Sizes Up Brad Pitt's Feet |author=Judy Faber |date=June 6, 2007 |publisher=CBS News |access-date=November 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090824203050/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/06/entertainment/main2896111.shtml |archive-date=August 24, 2009 |url-status=live}} Pitt appeared on Forbes{{'}} annual Celebrity 100 list of the 100 most powerful celebrities from 2006 to 2008 placing at numbers 20, 5 and 10, respectively.{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/2006/06/12/06celebrities_money-power-celebrities-list_land.html |title=The Celebrity 100 |author1=Lea Goldman |author2=Kiri Blakeley |date=June 12, 2006 |work=Forbes |access-date=November 17, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729115112/https://www.forbes.com/2006/06/12/06celebrities_money-power-celebrities-list_land.html |archive-date=July 29, 2017 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/53/07celebrities_The-Celebrity-100_Rank.html |title=The Celebrity 100 |date=June 14, 2007 |work=Forbes |access-date=November 17, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081103132828/http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/53/07celebrities_The-Celebrity-100_Rank.html |archive-date=November 3, 2008 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/oprah-tiger-woods-angelina-jolie-top-forbes-celebrity-100-list |title=Oprah, Tiger Woods, Angelina Jolie Top Forbes' Celebrity 100 List |date=June 12, 2008 |publisher=Fox News |access-date=May 19, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305080615/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,365903,00.html |archive-date=March 5, 2009 |url-status=live}} In 2007, he appeared on the Time 100 list, a compilation of the 100 most influential people in the world, as selected annually by Time magazine. The magazine credited Pitt for using "his star power to get people to look [to where] cameras don't usually catch".{{cite magazine |author=Rebecca Winters Keegan |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100/article/0,28804,1595326_1595332_1616809,00.html |title=Brad Pitt |access-date=July 11, 2007 |magazine=Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090505015430/http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100/article/0,28804,1595326_1595332_1616809,00.html |archive-date=May 5, 2009 |url-status=dead}} He was again included on the Time 100 in 2009, this time in the "Builders and Titans" list.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1894410_1893837_1894161,00.html |title=Brad Pitt |author1=James Carville|author2=Mary Matalin |magazine=Time |access-date=May 19, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107062923/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1894410_1893837_1894161,00.html |archive-date=January 7, 2010 |url-status=dead}} {{As of|2025}}, Pitt's films have grossed over $6.9{{nbsp}}billion worldwide, according to The Numbers.{{cite web | title=Top 100 Stars in Leading Roles at the Worldwide Box Office | website=The Numbers | url=https://www.the-numbers.com/box-office-star-records/worldwide/lifetime-acting/top-grossing-leading-stars | access-date=February 23, 2025}}

Beginning in 2005, Pitt's relationship with Angelina Jolie became one of the world's most reported celebrity stories. After Jolie was confirmed to be pregnant in early 2006, the intense media hype surrounding the couple reached what Reuters, in a story titled "The Brangelina fever," called "the point of insanity".{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/02/06/1139074140202.html |title=The Brangelina Fever |access-date=September 8, 2008 |date=February 6, 2006 |publisher=Reuters |work=The Age |location=Australia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018205659/http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/02/06/1139074140202.html |archive-date=October 18, 2017 |url-status=live}} To avoid media attention, the couple flew to Namibia for the birth of their daughter, which was described by a paparazzi blog as "the most anticipated baby since Jesus Christ."{{cite news |author=Terry Leonard |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501187.html |title=Namibia Shielding Pitt and Jolie |access-date=December 30, 2008 |date=May 25, 2006 |newspaper=The Washington Post |agency=Associated Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007163558/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501187.html |archive-date=October 7, 2008 |url-status=live}} Similarly, intense media interest greeted the announcement of Jolie's second pregnancy two years later; for the two weeks Jolie spent in a seaside hospital in Nice, reporters and photographers camped outside on the promenade to report on the birth.{{cite news |author=Ben Gruber |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-jolie-idUSL1322562520080715 |title=Jolie twins doctor admits to pre-birth pressure |access-date=December 30, 2008 |date=July 15, 2008 |work=Reuters |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110602085010/http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/07/15/us-jolie-idUSL1322562520080715 |archive-date=June 2, 2011 |url-status=live}}

In a 2006 global industry survey by ACNielsen in 42 international markets, Pitt, together with Jolie, were found to be the favorite celebrity endorsers for brands and products worldwide.{{cite web|url=http://www.afaqs.com/news/company_briefs/index.html?id=9263_Angelina+Jolie+Brad+Pitt+top+the+charts+as+favourite+celebrity+endorsers:+AC+Nielsen+survey|title=Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt top the charts, as favourite celebrity endorsers|access-date=September 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109002123/http://www.afaqs.com/news/company_briefs/index.html?id=9263_Angelina+Jolie+Brad+Pitt+top+the+charts+as+favourite+celebrity+endorsers:+AC+Nielsen+survey|archive-date=January 9, 2015|url-status=dead}} Pitt has appeared in several television commercials. For the U.S. market, he starred in a Heineken commercial aired during the 2005 Super Bowl; it was directed by David Fincher, who had directed Pitt in Seven, Fight Club, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.{{cite news|author=Lucy Kaylin |url=https://www.gq.com/entertainment/celebrities/200505/brad-pitt-divorce-hollywood-lucy-kaylin?currentPage=5 |title=American Idol |access-date=March 22, 2010 |date=June 2005 |work=GQ |page=5 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812153658/http://www.gq.com/entertainment/celebrities/200505/brad-pitt-divorce-hollywood-lucy-kaylin?currentPage=5 |archive-date=August 12, 2011 |url-status=dead}} Other commercial appearances came in television spots including Acura Integra, in which he was featured opposite Russian model Tatiana Sorokko,{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/gossip/hot-copy-article-1.707366|title=Hot Copy|date=December 22, 1995|newspaper=The New York Daily News|access-date=September 22, 2014|location=New York|first1=Michael|last1=Lewittes|first2=A.J.|last2=Benza|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006214854/http://nydailynews.com/archives/gossip/hot-copy-article-1.707366|archive-date=October 6, 2014|url-status=live}} as well as SoftBank, and Edwin Jeans.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/04/business/media/04japander.html |title=For Celebrities, Ads Made Abroad Shed Some Stigma |author=Cate Doty |date=February 4, 2008 |work=The New York Times |access-date=March 26, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304193514/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/04/business/media/04japander.html |archive-date=March 4, 2014 |url-status=live}} On June 2, 2015, the minor planet 29132 Bradpitt was named in his honor.{{cite web |url=http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/ECS/MPCArchive/2015/MPC_20150602.pdf |title=Minor Planet Center |publisher=International Astronomical Union |date=June 2, 2015 |access-date=September 30, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908183024/http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/ECS/MPCArchive/2015/MPC_20150602.pdf |archive-date=September 8, 2015 |url-status=live}}

Footnotes

{{notelist}}

References

{{Reflist}}