Twentieth Century Fox(NEW YORK) — Brad Pitt has spent the past few years “taking inventory of” himself, the actor told The New York Times in a candid new profile.
The recently single movie star, whose split and eventual divorce this year from Oscar-winner Angelina Jolie made international headlines, spoke about the part of himself that “is weak and goes through self-doubts,” as well as learning to “identify and accept those things.”
The only real reference Pitt makes to his split from Jolie in the interview is when the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star talks about filming his forthcoming sci-fi movie Ad Astra, saying only that when shooting began in 2017, “I had family stuff going on.”
Pitt also reveals that the movie’s story led him to ask some fundamental questions, including, “What’s it all about?” and “Why are we here?’”
“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,” Pitt told the New York Times.
Pitt also speaks candidly about his sobriety, and how his lack of it was a factor in the dissolution of his marriage.
“I had taken things as far as I could take it, so I removed my drinking privileges,” he said, adding that he learned a lot from spending 18 months in Alcoholics Anonymous.
“You had all these men sitting around being open and honest in a way I have never heard,” Pitt said. “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.”
Ad Astra, also starring Tommy Lee Jones, hit theaters September 20.
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