Actor Brad Pitt talks about his new film Ad Astra, his struggle with alcoholism and the MeToo movement
Actor Brad Pitt opened up about his struggles with alcoholism and the efforts he made in order to face his problems. He said, “Initially, I didn’t know how to deal with my painful feelings. But I don’t even want to run from anything, instead want to sit and feel it. I want to get through the rough night. And I found, in doing so, you just come out of it with a more profound understanding of yourself and gratefulness for those in your life.”
In an interview with Christiane Amanpour, chief anchor for CNN, he discussed his new film Ad Astra, his battle with alcoholism and the Me Too movement. Space epic Ad Astra tackles a range of topics. Pitt talked about the film’s focus on loneliness, father-and-son relationships, masculinity and vulnerability. He said that there his love for the sci-fi genre made him sign this film. “I didn’t want to do it until I figured we could do something that would add to a successful genre. And I think James Gray had a really interesting take that we hadn’t seen before. It just seemed the subject matter of, I guess, finding self at this age in my life, it seemed interesting,” said Pitt and went on to add, “When you get older, you just get tired of everything. And we wanted to get on with this film in that way. We all carry great pains and major regrets. We have all experienced loss and loneliness. And we’re good at packing that away, not dealing with it, some are really good at getting through it and coming out the other side in a more well-rounded and confident manner. So we just wanted to like get it out there.”
The two went on to discuss the summer hit Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Pitt’s breakout role in Thelma and Louise.
Amanpour spoke to Pitt about the Me-Too movement and his early part in calling out Harvey Weinstein in the 1990s. When then girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow was propositioned by Weinstein, Pitt confronted the media mogul. Asked about the incident, Pitt downplayed his own role in the movement but gave credit to its importance. He said, “At that moment, I was a boy from the Ozarks on the playground and that’s how we confronted with things. And I wanted to make sure nothing happened further because Paltrow was going to do two films. I think that the interesting thing is that we, Hollywood specifically, but the work place, men and women’s dynamic is being recalibrated in a very good way, and it’s long overdue. And I do think that’s an important story to tell.”
