Brad Pitt had a very rough time after he split from Angelina Jolie in 2016.
The A-list actor’s world was rocked so hard that he gave up drinking alcohol and joined Alcoholics Anonymous.
But all that suffering didn’t go to waste. The father of six told The New York Times this week that he used his ‘pain, grief and loss’ to play a troubled astronaut in his new movie Ad Astra.
Hard lesson: Brad Pitt had a very rough time after he split from Angelina Jolie in 2016. But all that suffering didn’t go to waste. He told The New York Times this week that he used his ‘pain, grief and loss’ to play a troubled astronaut in his new movie Ad Astra; seen in August
She left him: Jolie filed for divorce after 11 years together; seen in August at the D23 Expo in Anaheim
The film synopsis reads: ‘A man journeys across a lawless solar system to find his missing father – a renegade scientist who poses a threat to humanity.’
The discussion with the Times began when Pitt said he wanted his performance to come from a place of ‘absolute truth.’
He said: ‘The ultimate place for my style of acting, as I understand it, is to get to a place of just absolute truth.
‘I’ve got to be experiencing something that’s real to me for it to read real to you.’
And Brad suggested his marriage split from Jolie – the mother of his six children – informed his work on upcoming movie Ad Astra.
He said: ‘I had family stuff going on. We’ll leave it at that…
Painful: Brad suggested his marriage split from Jolie – the mother of his six children – informed his work on upcoming movie Ad Astra. He said: ‘I had family stuff going on. We’ll leave it at that…’
‘The fact is, we all carry pain, grief and loss. We spend most of our time hiding it, but it’s there, it’s in you. So you open up those boxes.’
Director James Gray added: ‘He definitely used the stimuli from his life.
‘Now, I didn’t get personal with him about it at all – I don’t think it’s my business, or even my job – but he investigated the essence of the character through himself.’
More on this: But then he added, ‘The fact is, we all carry pain, grief and loss. We spend most of our time hiding it, but it’s there, it’s in you. So you open up those boxes’
She looks like Jolie! His love interest in the movie is played by Liv Tyler
Brad and Angelina met on the set of Mr And Mrs Smith when she already had son Maddox in her life.
They began dating either during filming or after the movie wrapped, depending on which source is asked.
They welcomed Shiloh then twins Knox and Vivienne while also adopting two more children, Pax and Zahara.
Earlyd ays: Brad and Angelina met on the set of Mr And Mrs Smith when she already had son Maddox in her life
Family: They began dating either during filming or after the movie wrapped, depending on which source is asked. They welcomed Shiloh then twins Knox and Vivienne while also adopting two more children, Pax and Zahara; seen in 2014
Together they share custody of five of the six kids as Maddox is an adult. Pitt was not present when Jolie dropped Maddox off at college in South Korea in August.
The two have not been seen together in years and neither seems to have moved on romantically.
In the same interview he talked addiction: ‘I had taken things as far as I could take it, so I removed my drinking privileges,’ said the Fight Club star of his decision to join AA.
Pitt said he found ‘great value’ in Alcoholics Anonymous: ‘It was this safe space where there was little judgment, and therefore little judgment of yourself.’
‘It was actually really freeing just to expose the ugly sides of yourself.’
New pal: Pitt went to Kanye West’s church service on Sunday where Kim Kardashian was present
Also in his NYT interview, Pitt said he plans to make ‘fewer’ movies.
The Once Upon A Time In Hollywood actor is taking a step back from being in front of the camera because he’s focused on his work with his production company Plan B, as well as hobbies including sculpting and landscaping.
‘It’ll be fewer and farther in between for me, just because I have other things I want to do now,’ said the star.
‘When you feel like you’ve finally got your arms around something, then it’s time to go get your arms around something else.’
But with the rise of streaming services, the 56-year-old star isn’t sure how much of a future there is in long form story-telling.
He told the newspaper: ‘I’m curious to see if movies last, if movies stick around.’
Brad enjoys producing because it means a much more simple day than if he’s acting. He said: ‘Producing just means you don’t have to get up really early and put on make-up.’
Pitt was last seen with Kanye West at the rapper’s church service on Sunday in LA.
