Brad Pitt turns 50 today

It’s been one of the best and worst of years in the life of Brad Pitt. During the winter, while the media seemed to be waging war against his upcoming World War Z zombie film, his beloved life partner Angelina Jolie underwent a preventative double mastectomy, a medical decision she announced in a May 14 New York Times Op-Ed. Then, after Jolie had recovered sufficiently from her surgery to attend the London premiere of World War Z, the film turned out to be the biggest hit of Pitt’s career, earning $550 million (Dh2 billion) at the box-office.

Jolie is now fit again and shooting her next film as a director in Australia while Brad has been spending the last few months working in England on the war movie, Fury.

All this comes as Pitt prepares to mark a significant milestone in his life upon turning 50 on December 18, amid speculation that he and Jolie are going to be married over the holidays at Chateau Miraval, their €40 million palazzo on the French Riviera, having decided to give in to their eldest children’s “polite urging” that they finally tie the knot.

Married or not, Pitt remains one of the most fascinating movie stars of his time. From sex symbol to character actor to movie mogul, Pitt has exceeded all expectations. “I’ve given a lot of thought to turning 50,” says the actor. “You become very conscious of time. As a father, I’ve become much more acutely aware of spending my time wisely and doing the things that are important to me.”

Pitt will soon be seen in two new films, the much-heralded 12 Years a Slave, directed by Steve McQueen (which Pitt’s Plan B production company helped finance), as well as Ridley Scott’s dark thriller, The Counselor, co-starring Michael Fassbender and Javier Bardem.

The interview

In the upcoming 12 Years a Slave, you play a minor role as a Canadian carpenter who befriends Northrup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the freeman who gets kidnapped and sent into slavery. But your major role was that of producer and helping get the film made?

It’s an important film and I was very anxious to be a part of it. For me, it’s one of those rare moments in your career when you get to work on a film where story, performance, and history are all brought together at a very high level. This film is a transformative experience. It’s one of those rare films which displays brilliant storytelling and also shakes you. My experience with it matches my earliest recollections of great films I watched when I was younger and which inspired me in my career.

You’ve compared your character’s struggle in that film to your own evolution as a father?

The film was saying that we have to help each other and that you have to do whatever it takes to protect your family. We all learn to value the basic beauty of family, of watching your children grow and evolve. It’s the most beautiful thing you can experience. Being a father has changed me on so many levels and made me more generous and alive.

How do you see your duty as a father?

I see my children as a basic part of my life and it means so much to me to educate them and help them make their way into the world. I love being a father and all the responsibilities that entails. I feel like the richest man alive since I’ve become a father.

Kids hold up a mirror to you. You can’t make excuses. You’ve got to make sure they’ve brushed their teeth and eaten a good breakfast. You want to be present if they wake up with a bad dream. Children enrich you and I want to show them and guide them and enable them to have a good life. That’s what it’s all about. Everything comes down to family — it defines you as a man above all else.

Do you worry about Angelina and your kids a lot?

I worry about them all the time. That’s the emotional bond and responsibility that sweeps over you when you have a family to look after. I care about them more than I care about myself which I think is the real definition of love.

You see past yourself and become so much more generous and giving and wanting only the best for your family. I also think that being with a great mother has also been a major contribution to the well-being of my children. (Smiles)

How do you find quiet time amid the chaos that comes with raising six kids?

It’s crazy, but I kind of like a little chaos. I like it, man. I miss it when it’s quiet. When I get that first moment of quiet I go, oh man, this is great. And then within 30 minutes, I miss them, man, I miss them. I miss that crazy just running back and forth and sounds in the house with someone fighting, and someone banging into a wall over here and someone calling for dad.

Do you and Angelina try to balance the burden as best you can?

We try to give each other breaks. But mum is just amazing. I’ll be tired and lie down on the sofa and then she’ll keep going until late at night. So it makes me feel like why I am taking it easy and so I’ll help out and play with the boys and get them to bed. You realise that you always have the energy inside you and as a parent you need to have a lot of will power.

You come from a a fairly conservative Midwestern family. How has that background shaped your approach to being a father?

You have a very strong sense of being a guide and mentor. I see my role as not just being there for them, someone my children can count on, but also as giving them a sense of security as well as direction. But I’m also different from my own father in that I don’t hide my emotions that much.

When I was growing up, you weren’t encouraged to talk a lot about your problems or frustrations. You were expected to be tough-minded and rely on your own strength and determination and not complain or look to others to help you. There’s still a lot of that in me, but I’ve become more open with my feelings and I want my children to grow up to feel they can talk to me about anything and not keep things inside.

Have you become more open with your feelings over the years?

I still have difficulty articulating and expressing myself although I’ve gotten better at it lately. I guess age is wearing down my protective armour. (Laughs)

Does turning 50 hold any significance for you?

In a way, getting older is liberating because you have a lot more clarity about how you want to live and there are fewer doubts about everything. I also feel that I have more doors open to me as an actor because I’m less of a commodity and audiences can accept me in a variety of guises. Now people can see past my image and look at the work.

Will you be working less down the road?

I’m going to be producing more and acting less. I want to spend more time with my family. I want to be able to travel more with the kids and show them as much of the world as I can. My family is my real project in life.

Did you go through a period of self-questioning as a young man?

I was more optimistic and naive when I was younger and I gradually grew more cynical and realistic about the world and there’s a part of me that’s sorry I lost some of that openness and enthusiasm. But being a father and being part of my own family has rekindled a lot of that lost spirit although I still have this naggingly realistic outlook on things.

Can you point to any major decisions in your life that changed everything?

There have been several points where I’ve gone through some major changes and where I’ve felt that I needed to take a different path.

Two weeks before I was set to graduate [in journalism from the University of Missouri], I was thinking that the life I thought I wanted for myself was all wrong. You never forget that kind of a moment in your life where you decide to change directions and follow your instincts. I didn’t want to look for a job at some newspaper or find something just to pass the time.

I was just on the verge of getting my degree and all my other friends has jobs already lined up except for me. I knew I had to get out and do something different with my life. I had this idea to go to try acting and see where that would take me. It was something I had to try. So I stuffed my car [a Datsun 200SX his dad bought him for the trip] with as much as I could squeeze in and headed for the coast. It was just something I needed to do for myself.