This is perhaps the most touching interview with the star in history, so we will simply present fragments of it that raise a whole storm of emotions in our souls.
About life without a family:
“Every day, every morning I wake up and light a fireplace, and before going to bed I also make a fire. This is my way of feeling that there is still life in this house and that I am alive.”
About giving up drugs and alcohol:
“After graduating from college, there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t drink, score a joint, or be high on something. Under something... But then you realize that all this, even cigarettes, is a kind of sedative that helps you escape from your feelings. Now I'm happy that I'm done with all this. I gave up everything except drinking after I started my family. But until last year, I still couldn’t cope with the problem, I denied it. I drank too much and it became critical. And now for six months I’ve been coping with emotions on my own, I’ve taken control of my feelings and learned to feel life again to my fingertips.
On what it's like to live without doping:
“Don’t get me wrong: we have a winery, I love wine, but I can’t stop in time. I could drink vodka worse than any Russian, I was a real pro.”
What made you stop:
“You just realize that you don’t want to live like this anymore - this is the point of no return.”
About what replaces alcohol:
“I drink cranberry juice and soda. I swear I have the cleanest urine test in Los Angeles!”
About the court:
“The guardianship authorities literally put me on my back when the issue of child custody arose. Jolie and I tried to resolve it as painlessly as possible for all parties. One of the lawyers said: “No one wins in court, someone will just be hurt more.” I agree with it. You spend a whole year trying to prove you're right. But in fact, you just start hating each other in the future.”
About feelings during a breakup:
About children:
“Children are very vulnerable. They feel everything and need support, they want their opinion to be heard and taken into account. And when I was completely immersed in work, I devoted too little time to them. Now I want to become better, to be a support and example for them. But before that I still have to grow and grow.”
About vulnerability and new life:
“For the last six months I’ve been having nightmares, lying in bed, looking at the ceiling and thinking: “What lesson is life teaching me?”, “What else do I need to understand?” Now this state has “let go” of me and I’m starting to feel joy again... Now I’m somewhere in the middle of the path, not at the end, not at the beginning, and this is the same feeling... But I’m ready to unbutton my shirt, straighten up, take blow after blow and see everything is as it is. See EVERYTHING."
He was supposed to arrive at the Roosevelt Hotel 30 minutes ago. His bodyguards calculated the route, studied the passage through the basement and gave instructions to the hotel employees. I was also instructed for our meeting in the hotel room. From here, on the 12th floor, it opens beautiful view to Los Angeles... A muffled voice behind me brings me out of contemplation. He belongs to a tall, clearly very to a strong man. He is dressed in a leather motorcycle suit, his face is not visible - a helmet and aviator glasses.
The first major role that brought Brad Pitt fame and the title of sex symbol was in the film “Thelma and Louise”
“Do you know what it’s like to be Brad Pitt?” – the man asks from the doorway, unfastening his helmet. And he answers himself: “This is walking from the main entrance only when there is a red carpet in front of him, and on the sides there are photographers and a crowd. It's knowing all the back doors and staff elevators and squeezing into a corner when the maid rolls her cart into the elevator. After all, it’s like taking off a motorcycle helmet after having already missed the entire hotel lobby and 15 floors in the elevator!” “Really stupid,” I agree. And Pitt smiles his famous childish, disarming smile and continues: “I’m not looking for sympathy, I’m just explaining why I’m wearing a helmet. No, don’t think that I walk the streets like that. I drive. On a motorcycle. You know, it’s such a liberating pleasure - you’re standing at a traffic light next to someone’s car, hearing what they’re listening to on the radio. And under the helmet you can be yourself.”
But it’s hard to imagine that this reserved man with an open smile is sometimes not himself. It is impossible to imagine that he can lie and play around. Maybe it was this organic, physiological truthfulness, coupled with the talent to convey the most complex feelings that made him a star? And not at all looks, charisma and charm?
The actor told us about this and much more in 2009.
Psychologies:
Always in sight, under cameras, amid the screams of the paparazzi... Is this how you can live?
Brad Pitt:
Well... (Deep pause.) No, you can’t live like that. I probably haven’t been able to completely relax for 20 years now. I can’t go out on my lawn—like any American can—in my underpants. I can't go to the park with my children. I can't say too much. I'm practically unaccustomed to being alone with myself. I constantly have to make sure that the attention of the tabloids does not deform something fundamental in me. But it has already deformed: I live with a feeling of hatred.
I hate those who, in twenty cars, in shifts, equipped with the most high-tech equipment, track me down from behind my own fence, who shout out the names of my children so that they look into their cameras... All this deforms so much that my dream has now become to be an ordinary person on a hot day, in line at the ice cream van and having a long discussion with the children about who should buy what... But, oddly enough, now is also the most joyful period of my life. I never thought life would be so full. That I will be so lucky and have such a family!
The wedding of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in 2014
That is, for you, six children is not an additional limitation.
B.P.:
Is it a matter of life's limitations? How much sleep do you have and can you go to another party? The point is not to limit yourself. Life can be organized in a new way, well, it can be changed decisively, which is what I did. Note inner freedom, which arose for me when unconditional meaning appeared in my life... I have never been so free. This meaning of life cannot be conveyed by any cinema, or any creativity at all. “Since childhood, people liked me; they say I was a charming child.”
The family should become the safest place in the world for a person, free from worries
Before meeting Angie (Angelina Jolie, Pitt’s girlfriend and mother of his children. - Ed.) I clearly felt: yes, my life was successful - I played in several really good films, I felt feelings... But I was so tired of myself! All my attention was involuntarily focused on myself - there was no one else in my life. And at the age of 40 you have to give yourself, not take. Share, don't hoard. And of course, yes - children are in some sense a consequence of my selfishness. Now I know for sure: an already established life does not slip through one’s fingers, someone else needs it. A strange, but incredibly pleasant feeling of freedom - freedom from yourself, when you can not think about yourself first.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt with their children on vacation
You have dramatically changed your life - from a free, public favorite to the father of a large family. Wasn't it scary?
B.P.:
You know, I'm only afraid of death. And I felt this acutely when Angie’s mother recently died. Someday we will all part. With children, with those we love. Indeed, I am deathly afraid of death. But no, I’m not afraid of life. You can’t even imagine how organically you are entering this new phase of life, fatherhood. This does not happen rationally, it happens on intuition! It turns out that you have a lot of potential hidden within you.
For example, you can rejoice at your child’s burping, consider it perhaps the most important thing in life! Or sometimes you listen, as if from the outside, to your conversation with your children, you hear yourself and think: what a moron! And sometimes you are simply surprised at your own wisdom. And then, children create new opportunities for your life. I learned how to somehow deal with the press - at least somehow! - thanks to them.
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B.P.:
Yes, that too. It was the children who gave me the idea that we need to stop running from the tabloids, and direct their energy to peaceful purposes. And now I inform them that I am going to New Orleans, where we started a project to build cheap and environmentally friendly housing for victims of Katrina, or in South Africa, where hundreds of thousands of children were left without parents due to AIDS, or in Darfur. And so I drag them there. And they are filming not only me, but everything that the world should see and know - about orphans, genocide, the homeless.
When you became a father, did you learn anything from your parents?
B.P.:
I'm trying. I have amazing parents. We lived all our lives in one place, in one house. They say they don't need more. They have friends with whom they have been friends all their lives, since school. They are faithful people. And parental fidelity imparts confidence to the child, right? My childhood, that of both my brother and sister, was marked by this confidence in the inviolability of our lives, in the fact that if something bad happens, it will certainly be overcome. For my father, our stability has always been a priority, and not the material side of it.
Where I grew up, alcoholism and drugs were signs of weakness. But here, in Los Angeles, they turned out to be almost the norm. I had to learn not to judge anyone
Dad says money is not a basic necessity; like a fire extinguisher in a house, it is needed for safety. The first necessity for him is trust in each other. And my mother always believed: the main thing she should give us is herself, her time. She always put us to bed herself and talked to us before bed as much as we wanted. I try to look at the family from their, father’s and mother’s, positions: the family should become the safest place in the world for a person, free from worries.
Bradd Pitt and Jennifer Aniston's marriage ended in 2005, after five years of marriage.
You grew up in the very heart of America - with its conservatism, Ku Klux Klan past... Did this leave an imprint on you?
B.P.:
Yes, when I got to the big city, to Los Angeles, I even found it funny: in America there are African-Americans, like, say, Denzel Washington, there are Irish-Americans, like Sean Penn, and there are Jewish-Americans, like Michael Douglas. And I’m nothing interesting – I’m an American. The faith there is really strong, we had a pretty strict Baptist family. On Sundays - to church. Before dinner - prayer... Faith is the first thing I began to doubt. Because he began to doubt divine justice.
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Also in kindergarten I thought: what, in heaven everything will be the same with me as with Protestants, as with Catholics? In general, I have always been interested in the possibility of injustice. Everyone was very kind to me, people liked me from childhood, I was, as they say, a charming child. I liked others less, and I noticed this. And in the evenings he pestered my mother with questions, the main one of which, of course, was “why?” And she told me: the fact that people like you - additional features and additional responsibility. But only. But a feeling of guilt settled in me, which is funny, because of the unfair world order.
And then religion ceased to suit me at all - because of the dogma that prescribes what is possible and what is not. And this is dangerous - any prescription. Life consists of differences, everything has the right to life. The mentality of the ancient Greeks is closer to me: they knew what the turns of the wheel of fortune, ups and downs were. They have a deeper understanding of the very nature of man, his nature. For them, nature is primary.
Don't you yourself try to be good, kind?
B.P.:
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Was it a conflict with the principles by which they lived in Missouri that forced you to leave the university and leave home?
B.P.:
Not in the first place. When there were two weeks left before graduation, all my university friends were already talking seriously about future careers and work. Well, I just haven’t seen this one of mine future life. I didn’t see myself in the office, in the newspaper. And I decided that I needed to try something new. Go to the big city, see a different life. I've always liked cinema. From cinema I learned about the world, cinema was a window into Big world. But they didn’t make movies here in Missouri. And I decided: if the movie doesn’t suit me, I’ll go to it. And I went.
And what was the meeting with another life like?
B.P.:
In a way it was a shock. Where I grew up, alcoholism, drugs, and generally so-called bad behavior were signs of weakness. And everyone was terribly afraid of appearing weak. And here, in Los Angeles, the previously unacceptable has turned out to be almost the norm. I had to learn not to judge anyone.
What was the most difficult thing?
B.P.:
I remember one agency sent me for a screen test. After some time, I called to find out the result. Instead of an agent, his assistant answered the phone and answered my question with the question: “Have you thought about acting courses?”... I felt like a complete insignificance. But the real feeling of hopelessness came to me later - when I became what is called Hollywood star. I was not ready for this... attention assault. And I felt... You know, in the American outback we have such a bad sexist tradition among construction workers - whistling and shouting dirty words to lonely girls passing by. So, I felt like a girl walking alone, not just past, but through the construction site itself. Then I decided: as soon as the image was established, it was urgently necessary to destroy it. For example, he was such a sweet little thing in “Thelma and Louise” - urgently play a violent madman in “12 Monkeys”. And so on.
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You once said that you can't stand questions like, “What do you think China should do about Tibet?” and you don’t understand why they are asked just to an actor. Now that charity and political activism have become such a significant part of your life, it's hard to believe that you ever said that.
B.P.:
Yes, my position is completely different now. And I believe that we are capable of changing circumstances. But I still don’t believe in the benefit of expressing opinions in the news: it’s all empty and doesn’t change the world. Action changes the world. I'm taking action. And I believe in action. Therefore, he began to bring his life into line with his principles. For example, I quit smoking. I smoked for a quarter of a century, but now I quit because I want to be with my children longer. And Angie and I decided not to officially get married until everyone in the country has equal rights to get married - this is how we support the movement of gays for their right to marry.
Living with Angie taught me a lot. She is a very straightforward person, she doesn’t value tact at all if the truth is really required. With her, I began to understand: there is one life - both in the sense that it is unique, and in the sense that it is united, it cannot be divided into parts - here I am in the family, here in the office, and here at a party. It is now obvious to me: everything in life is inextricably connected. I am known and therefore I can help. I help, and it expands my world, my horizons. This is all healthy egoism, which you understand only after forty - to use the world for your own purposes, the main of which is to be useful to the world.
“I’m a good actor, but not a great one,” he said in an interview 15 years ago. And I could repeat these words today. “I starred in excellent films and generally got a good job,” the 47-year-old Hollywood celestial assesses his creative and life experience.
Text: Ineza Makalatia
What is meant by “settled in well” seems to be known to everyone. Megastar status, a beautiful celebrity wife, six children, multimillion-dollar fees, real estate in heavenly corners of the world, and so on and so forth. Let's not forget about the vigorous activity in the field of charity, about the reputation of a pacifist and an ardent defender of rights sexual minorities. Taking into account the above and taking into account our hero’s dislike for media representatives, it is not surprising that his interviews would look more appropriate on UN websites than in entertainment magazines. Years of grueling games of hide and seek with the paparazzi and a series of tabloid scandals taught Brad Pitt to “filter the market.” He is boringly verbose when it comes to issues of tolerance in society, starving people in Africa and the state of the environment. And he is annoyingly curt when he hears questions about his personal life. But it is not important. The actor, who has reached the age of half a century, has been trailing the trail of the main sex symbol of the planet for almost 20 years, since Pitt appeared in the film “Thelma and Louise” in 1991.
Cartoonists depict Pitt and his celebrity wife Angelina Jolie as biblical characters, and the hosts of popular TV shows endlessly play with the theme of adoption. In short, in America, Brad's family is a source of jokes and sarcasm. What's the matter? Partly, in that same emasculated manner of communicating with the press. And the people (who make films with the participation of a megastar at the box office) are thirsty for revelations. But there are none. And the ones he squeezes out sound something like this: “I recently quit smoking, but for some reason all the roles that I get require me to smoke on camera. Fortunately, I found a way out! During filming, I smoke cigarettes not with nicotine, but with ordinary grass.” Or, “I'm basically a guy who finds farting and things like that funny. My character is a redneck,” - such a self-portrait from a handsome man on a planetary scale. The head of the film company that released the famous " Fight club"(1999), Lyra Ziskin, said this about Pitt: "It's something of a curse beautiful woman. Brad is handsome to the point where it's torture for him. He's desperately trying to get people interested in something else. For example, he mutilates himself. But nothing comes of this anyway. For our film he was “removed” front tooth, making a crooked grin, but you saw for yourself - beaten and missing a tooth, he is still as beautiful as a god!”
The actor once admitted that he often feels like “a girl walking past a team of construction workers.” “Tibetan monks say: the three most terrible things that can happen to a person are beauty, fame and wealth. Looks like I'm up to my neck in shit! - he says ironically. Brad Pitt, let's be honest, doesn't look like a man who has experienced deep emotional turmoil. Anyway, reading his interview different years, you are convinced: his biggest problem in life was the paparazzi. Oh yes, the actor was also extremely nervous about the US imperialist policies. Although this, thank God, ended with the coming to power of President Obama, the idol Hollywood stars.
He's the only one in Hollywood who would be exactly the same even if he had no fame or money
Julia Roberts
But you can’t call Pitt a classic conformist. He is not a rebel or a bad boy like Mickey Rourke or Robert Downey Jr. But he is also not one who goes with the flow. If this were so, we would see him in one romantic melodrama after another. “You know, such pure, sweet roles without any internal filling. Pies with nothing!” And Brad would receive record fees for these “pies with nothing.” But he often abandoned them in favor of commercially unprofitable projects. The secret of continuous creativity and life well-being Pitta is different. A balanced character, a stable stay on Hollywood Olympus and the absence of destructive vices have a very definite explanation - family.
14 minutes on screen and you are a new sex symbol!
City of Shawnee. State of Oklahoma. Father, William Pitt, is a manager at a freight transport company. Mother, Jane Etta Hillhouse, is a consultant at high school. Younger brother and sister Doug and Julie. William Bradley Pitt was born into a traditional, friendly and very decent family. A rare event in the biography of Hollywood stars. “My childhood was imbued with a sense of the inviolability of our life, the belief that if something bad happens, we will overcome it.” However, there is something in which Brad is not ready to follow the example of his parents. Neither personally, nor in the matter of raising children. Religiosity. The Pitt family belonged to the Baptist church and strictly observed rituals. “On Sundays - to church. Before dinner - prayer. And also singing in the church choir.” Young Brad left in time parents' house and his native Springfield and rushed to Los Angeles with a clear goal - to conquer Hollywood. How did school friends and classmates remember him? An ordinary provincial guy, moderately diligent, moderately lazy, rather phlegmatic, a little shy. Once in Los Angeles, Pitt discovered that the city was full of people like him who wanted to catch their luck by the tail. Before achieving episodic roles in television series, he had to work as a driver, loader and even a chicken barker in the El Pollo Loco restaurant chain. And that's not it. “There was a time when I delivered strippers to performances. He made sure they got the money and then took them back.” But the handsome guy from the provinces waited in the wings. He appeared in television series, made his debut in 1987 in the feature film “No Man's Land” (though he was not listed in the credits), starred in a number of mediocre films, and here he is - a shot at the top ten, “that” role! The 14-minute role of a charming gigolo and thief in “Thelma and Louise” made Pitt a new sex symbol in Hollywood. Actually, since then “handsome Brad” has been the focus of everyone’s attention - talented actor, "most sexy man planets" and easy prey for powerful women.
By the way, about women
Surprisingly, the name of 47-year-old Pitt is confidently associated with only four ladies (not counting fleeting hobbies). But all of them have big names: Juliet Lewis, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston, Angelina Jolie. Brad himself opens his list of crushes with a certain Laura, a classmate with whom he fell unrequitedly in love in his distant childhood. “One winter, at night, under her windows, I wrote the name Laura in the snow with a stream of my urine. Is not it real love? She did not appreciate the effectiveness of the gesture. On the contrary, she shouted at me: “Before, I thought you were just a bore. Now I know you're an idiot."
So, Laura missed her happiness. But young Juliet is not. Juliet Lewis was 17, he was 2b. Working together in the TV movie “Too Young to Die” (1991) culminated in a whirlwind romance. But the couple did not pass the test of fame. People started talking about Lewis as a gifted actress after the release of the film “Cape Fear”. "Thelma and Louise" made Brad everyone's favorite. Jealous Juliet broke down from time to time, observing the uniform excitement around her boyfriend. At the same time, even her friends said: it was a matter of banal envy. It was not easy for the ambitious and extremely emotional Lewis to contemplate her boyfriend’s popularity. It is noteworthy that the last working together the couple became “California”, where the hero Pitt kills the heroine Juliet with particular cruelty. She herself tried to commit suicide when she found out about Brad's affair with Gwyneth Paltrow. She swallowed drugs, but called the doctors in time. Whenever Pitt is asked about his romance with Lewis, he replies: “We were together for about three years, then broke up. She lived with me, now she doesn’t.” With Gwyneth it was different.
Gwyneth Paltrow. A representative of the Hollywood aristocracy (father is an influential producer, mother - famous actress). Elegant, sophisticated, educated. There was never such a “thing” on Pitt’s Don Juan list. He fell in love without memory. This happened on the set of the film "Seven". According to eyewitnesses, “sparks flew” from the very first meeting. For Paltrow's parents, the news about their daughter's affair with a narrow-minded guy from the province became a headache. The mother did not miss the opportunity to draw Gwyneth’s attention to her boyfriend’s terrible manners, his helpless attempts to maintain a more or less meaningful conversation, to his wardrobe, which betrayed him as a provincial, to his inability to use cutlery, in the end. Gwyneth, an intelligent and well-mannered girl, did not argue with her mother. She simply took up the task of raising her beloved. Poor Brad. What did he then, head over heels in love, not endure! The guy, whose favorite pastime used to be lying on the couch in front of the TV, wandered around art galleries, went to theaters, read smart books and even listened to classical music. And, of course, I listened to lectures on the rules of good manners. Changed my wardrobe. He lasted three years. But “informed sources” call Gwyneth, not Pitt, the initiator of the breakup. Tabloid press for a long time tried to find out real reasons gap star couple. Mutual jealousy? The photos that have gone around the whole world, where they both frolic by the pool, are they wearing what their mother gave birth to? (The scandal left them both depressed.) Paltrow's parents getting involved? “Brad demanded that I stop discussing my every move with them. But I was not ready to change the nature of family relationships,” admitted Gwyneth. The tabloids also started talking about Gwyneth’s frigidity. One way or another, the announced wedding did not take place. These two were too different. How much? This can be judged at least by how they behaved after the breakup. “Gwyneth? Who is this?” - asked Pitt when asked about ex-girlfriend. Paltrow was on top: “I can’t imagine how Brad had the strength to put up with me for so long.” Soon after breaking up with Gwyneth, he met someone whom, by all accounts, he should have endured much longer.
Jennifer Aniston. The one who hasn’t bothered with the issue of re-educating her boyfriend is her, the star of the TV series “Friends.” Who can talk about this better than Pitt? “Jen accepts me as I am and doesn’t try to change me. Yes, I have a lot of problems: I love hanging around the house in my pajamas, I can watch TV for hours and sometimes I can’t stand anyone’s presence. I constantly get into legal battles because of vile publications. I collect bicycles and motorcycles, after all. And Jen accepts everything and doesn’t reproach me for anything.”
In the summer of 2000, one of the most luxurious Hollywood weddings took place to the collective cry of women that swept across the planet (“What did he find in her?!”). Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston got married. Whether they were happy in their marriage is not an easy question. Brad more often called her wise and understanding than beloved, and Jennifer still could not calm down her own ambitions. He dreamed about large family, it is about a career in big cinema. For a while, he felt comfortable with a woman who accepted him for who he was. But she felt discomfort due to the difference in status (Hollywood star and star soap opera"belong to different galaxies). When news like “Jennifer admitted that her husband is looking for a group of swingers” or “Pitt is not against his wife’s affair on the side if it will revive their relationship” began to appear in the press, it became clear that the 5-year marriage had exhausted itself. “We began to experience undiagnosable discomfort,” Brad tried to explain the reason for the divorce. But the interested public determined this reason even without him. Her name is Angelina.
Angelina Jolie. The role of an insidious homewrecker, a vamp and a superbitch, of course, suits her. But, in truth, the actress, like the heroine from “The Diamond Arm,” has the right to shout: “It’s not my fault! He came himself!” “I was portrayed as an evil witch and a marriage destroyer. Half the world believed that we were having an affair and it was all my fault. But in reality, I helped Brad deal with heartache. He really wants to become a father and suffered for a long time because he did not have children.” She gave him so many children that it seems to be becoming a problem. Especially after Pitt almost learned from the newspapers about Angelina’s intention to take another adopted child into the family - a girl from Ethiopia. It was then that he, who adored all his six children (both biological and non-biological), rebelled. “Brad is categorically against another adoption. He believes that Jolie behaves under the influence of emotions and acts impractically, the newspapers were full of headlines. - The trouble is that Angie doesn't ask Brad's permission. She just confronts him with a fact.” Secular chroniclers enthusiastically quoted words allegedly said by Pitt: he compared Angelina to a child in a pet store who wants to take all the “cute puppies and kittens” home. However, when communicating with the press, the actor invariably paints ideal pictures. family life. “I’m happier than ever!” “I never thought that I would be so lucky and have such a family.” “Life with Angie taught me a lot. Meeting her is a reward. It may be a cliched phrase, but it really is a reward. And this is largely due to the children.” Let's leave it to the conscience of the "vile journalists" to report that Brad recently secretly met with his ex-wife actress Jennifer Aniston. It was to her that he seemed to pour out his soul and complain about problems in his relationship with Jolie. However, according to an unnamed source, the conversation soon grew into a quarrel, “Aniston accused Pitt of selfishness and demanded that he not involve her in his relationship with Angelina.” One way or another, no matter how fantastic the rumors about the imminent breakup of the Jolie-Pitt couple may seem, they have a place to be. It’s hard to believe, but wait and see. And rest assured, any fact from Brad Pitt’s life will become public knowledge. Today he is an important figure in the hierarchy of the Star Factory, an exemplary family man, a person actively involved in charity, and a star who enjoys the favor of famous directors, including art-house ones. The latter is very important. Even those who can’t stand Pitt admit that he managed the almost impossible: an actor who does not have the makings of a genius, and is also obscenely handsome, managed to jump above his own head.
Just yesterday, few people imagined that he would even ever be nominated for an Oscar. And this has already happened! For his role in the film " Misterious story Benjamin Button" (2008). And he is only 47 years old.
There are persistent rumors in the press that the most famous couple Hollywood Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie finally decided to get together legal marriage. The “newlyweds” themselves have so far refused to comment on this matter.
They first met on the set of the comedy Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005). They have been together ever since. Brad officially adopted Angelina's three adopted children: Maddox, Zahara and Pax (all children from third world countries - ed.). Then their own were born - daughter Shilon Nouvel (born May 27, 2006 in Namibia - ed.) and twins Knox Leon and Vivienne Marchelin (born July 12, 2008 in Nice, France - ed.). Thus, the actors became the parents of a large and noisy family. Our correspondent in Los Angeles met with Brad Pitt and asked him about how he is given the most serious role of his life - the role of the father of six children.
Mr. Pitt, tell me what it means to you to be a father?
This means understanding that you are an example for your children. Children copy us, they can repeat both our good and bad deeds. This is worth remembering. Fatherhood cannot be learned; it is not written in books. Much has to be done intuitively because it is an ongoing process of mutual learning.
What are your priorities now?
There is nothing to ask here - for me, family always comes first. Only then comes work.
It is believed that women usually have more worries than men when children are growing up in the family. How do you help Angelina?
Hope, we're talking about not about do I wash the dishes and take out the trash? This is our secret. (Laughs.) Angelina is everything to me: my love, the mother of my children. And everything that happens to us is the most important thing in life for me. Something I try to preserve at all costs.
In the film "The Tree of Life" you played the father of three children. What did your own children say when they saw this film?
They didn't see him. (Laughs.) Angelina and I believe that it is too early for children to watch this kind of pictures. But they know that their parents work in cinema. I would like to hope that when they see us on screen, they will be proud of us.
What if children criticize you?
It is a sin for us to complain about the lack of positive assessments of our work. But if our children ever criticize us, this will also have its advantage - criticism awakens the desire to work and improve.
What has your family taught you?
The right attitude towards life. In youth, it is difficult to understand what is important and what is secondary. And when you see your child’s first step, hear his first word, you understand that this is something you cannot live without. You learn to enjoy small victories and be proud of them. I now know for sure that it is these moments - intimate, unnoticeable to others - that help me move through life and encourage me to achieve accomplishments.
What do you want to teach your children?
The only thing I would like to teach them is common sense. Understanding that you don’t need to blindly follow an idea, no matter how good it may seem. I grew up in a religious environment and only at a certain stage in my life began to question what I believed in for quite a long time. I was about 20 years old then. It was a scary time - I had to separate myself from the belief system that I had followed all my life. How is it possible that there is no life after death? The end - that's all?! Religion is a great comforter, but I could no longer console myself with anything, I had to deal with my fears myself. Therefore, I will answer your question this way: we will not impose anything on our children.
But are you comfortable now?
Look at my family! We are least like the people who live in closed system. Rather, we go beyond traditional ideas about marriage. At the same time, we are a completely normal family: mom, dad, children.
Angelina Jolie:
The hardest thing Brad and I have is finding time for ourselves. As soon as we close the door to the bedroom, the children are already knocking. Or they will hear the splash of water filling the bath in the evening, and immediately rush to join. This may not be very convenient, but it’s terribly funny!
Are there any disadvantages to such a family?
Well, what are you talking about - all the positives! Sometimes, like all children, our guys are not very manageable, but mostly it’s a sin to complain! They say the funniest things I've ever heard, and they don't leave us alone for a minute when we're at home. It is very important for us to spend as much time as possible with children - to communicate with everyone together and with each child individually.
You started a family when you turned 40. Has your understanding of yourself changed since that age?
Indeed, around the age of 40, I realized that I was too focused on playing other people's roles, instead of living my own life. interesting life. Perhaps it had some connection with age, I don’t know, I’m not sure... But it suddenly became important for me to live in accordance with my beliefs, to follow what is really important to me.
You and Angelina have an ethnically diverse family. Do you use other languages?
I'm bad with languages. American schools don't pay enough attention foreign languages. Our eldest son studies in a bilingual school. Angie and I started studying French. My goal is to master another language and not be “mute” while traveling around the world.
Your children represent different continents, different cultures and traditions. How does this affect your view of the world?
Personally, I am in favor of racial mixing of people. It would be better for all humanity if the different races mixed completely. But this does not mean that our children grow up not knowing their roots. They understand very well where they come from. And I only benefit from this - my understanding of the world around me has expanded significantly.
Angelina Jolie:
My mother was Catholic, but she told me about different religions and allowed her to choose what to believe. We raise our children in the same spirit. We have friends of all different faiths. And we explain to the kids: this person has such and such a religion, and this one believes in something else, and this is absolutely normal.
What does the word "love" mean to you?
This is interdependence in in a good way this word. I am complete only when you are near! When you're not there, I'm nobody! It is good if two personalities meet when they are fully formed and have made a conscious choice to be together. Knowing at the same time that nothing lasts forever under the sun.
What do you tell children about the processes of existence - about life, death?
The elder, of course, is already interested in these issues. You won't be able to explain everything to younger people. But children with early age begin to understand that there are difficult questions to which there is not always an exact answer.
You have a house in France. Does living in this country have its advantages for you?
Actually, we are a family of nomads. We like to travel around the world, and we go to far from the most heavenly places. We believe that children must see the problems of other people living in this world in order to be its citizens, in order to be ready to help those suffering. Perhaps they don’t understand everything yet, they don’t realize everything. But something is definitely deposited in their minds.
What is your favorite thing to do?
Flying around the world with our kids on our own planes. They are like jeeps to us. They threw the kids into the back seats and into the air!
But it’s extremely difficult to cope with such a crowd!
Once you have more than three children in your family, you are no longer afraid of anything!
Sergey Rakhlin,
Los Angeles, specially for "Young Family"
Brad Pitt gave his first interview after his divorce from Jolie, in which he frankly spoke about his alcoholism, loneliness and feelings. The 53-year-old actor starred in a large-scale photo shoot for GQ magazine, which could well be called “A Man’s Life After Divorce.”
(Total 11 photos + 1 video)
GQ magazine published the first candid conversation with actor Brad Pitt after his divorce from Angelina Jolie. In addition to the frank interview, the new issue of GQ Style featured a photo shoot with Pitt, authored by the famous New York photographer Ryan McGinley.
Brad Pitt became the hero of the new summer issue of American GQ - the actor graced three covers of the publication, striking with his sad, piercing gaze.
Brad confirmed that his addiction to alcohol was not an invention of journalists or Angelina Jolie. He assures that Lately became too addicted to the bottle and now, of course, regrets it. “I can’t remember a day since I graduated from college when I wasn’t drinking or blowing a joint or something like that. Something like. I gave up everything except drinking when I started a family. But last year, you know, I couldn't handle it all. I drank too much. It just became a problem."
On fresh photos the actor looks emaciated, unhappy, desperate, but at the same time spiritual.
“We have a winery. I really, really love wine, but I'm exhausted. I needed to step away from it for a while. To tell the truth, when it comes to drinking vodka, I could outshine any Russian. I was a real professional at this, I could drink like a black man, professionally,” said the actor. According to his personal admission, he was forced to give up alcohol by the desire to start life anew.
53-year-old Brad said that today a psychologist is successfully working with him, whom he found only the third time. Pitt does not believe that today's experiences can be called a midlife crisis.
When asked if divorce was like death for him, the actor replied: “Yes. Family must come first. People on their deathbeds do not talk about what they have acquired or what awards they have received. They talk about their loved ones or their regrets." The divorce made him think about what kind of father he was to his children. “It was a big shock for me too, I realized that I had to be their support in everything, and I wasn’t very good at that,” Pitt said.
He also commented trial over the custody of their children together with Jolie, admitting that the situation took him by surprise.
“This situation put me on my back and tied my hands. But after some time we still managed to work together on this problem. We're both doing our best. One lawyer once told me: “No one wins in court, in court it is only decided who gets worse.” And it seems to be true. For a whole year you have been trying to prove your point of view, explaining and finding reasons why you are right and your opponent is wrong. But in reality, this is all just part of poisonous hatred. I refused this. And fortunately my ex-wife Same. After all, this is very painful, especially for children who are unexpectedly faced with a situation where the family is suddenly destroyed. We are trying to complete the trial so that we all emerge stronger and good people", he says.
Pitt fans are divided into two camps: some believe that Brad is in in great shape and thinness suits him very well; others are sure that this is not thinness, but exhaustion, and Brad urgently needs to do something about his health.
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