GQ Style's Michael Paterniti mocht voor een verbazingwekkend openhartig interview een dag doorbrengen met acteur en aspirant beeldhouwer Brad Pitt. Het is 't eerste grote interview dat Pitt sinds zijn (dramatische) scheiding geeft, en het is duidelijk dat hij daar nog steeds mee moet zien om te gaan.
Hoewel de acteur weinig over Angelina Jolie zelf zegt – hij vertelt alleen dat de interviewer 'Angies nieuwe film First They Killed My Father echt moet gaan zien' – is-ie duidelijk over zijn scheiding en zijn rol daarin. Waar het overgrote deel van celebrities elkaar na een breuk compleet afmaken (we kijken naar jou, Justin Timberlake) neemt Pitt alle schuld op zich en is-ie goudeerlijk over zijn alcohol- en wietverslaving.
Een paar hoogtepunten uit het interview op een rij:
Over of zijn scheiding onvermijdelijk was:
'I think it would have come knocking, no matter what.'
Of-ie door een midlife crisis gaat:
'No, this isn't that. I interpret a midlife crisis as a fear of growing old and fear of dying, you know, going out and buying a Lamborghini. [pause] Actually – they've been looking pretty good to me lately! [laughs]'
Over zijn drankverslaving:
'I do remember a few spots along the road where I've become absolutely tired of myself. And this is a big one. These moments have always been a huge generator for change. And I'm quite grateful for it. But me, personally, I can't remember a day since I got out of college when I wasn't boozing or had a spliff, or something. Something. And you realize that a lot of it is, um – cigarettes, you know, pacifiers. And I'm running from feelings. I'm really, really happy to be done with all of that. I mean I stopped everything except boozing when I started my family. But even this last year, you know – things I wasn't dealing with. I was boozing too much. It's just become a problem. And I'm really happy it's been half a year now, which is bittersweet, but I've got my feelings in my fingertips again. I think that's part of the human challenge: You either deny them all of your life or you answer them and evolve.'
Over zijn 'stoner days':
'Back in my stoner days, I wanted to smoke a joint with Jack and Snoop and Willie. You know, when you're a stoner, you get these really stupid ideas. Well, I don't want to indict the others, but I haven't made it to Willie yet.'
Over zijn drankverslaving:
'I mean, we have a winery. I enjoy wine very, very much, but I just ran it to the ground. I had to step away for a minute. And truthfully I could drink a Russian under the table with his own vodka. I was a professional. I was good.'
Over het stoppen met alcohol en wat-ie nu graag drinkt:
'I don't want to live that way anymore. I drink cranberry juice and fizzy water. I've got the cleanest urinary tract in all of L.A., I guarantee you! But the terrible thing is I tend to run things into the ground. That's why I've got to make something so calamitous. I've got to run it off a cliff.'
Over zijn nieuwe, veelbesproken hobby, beeldhouwen:
'This house was always chaotic and crazy, voices and bangs coming from everywhere, and then, as you see, there are days like this: very… very solemn. I don't know. I think everyone's creative in some way. If I'm not creating something, doing something, putting it out there, then I'll just be creating scenarios of fiery demise in my mind. You know, a horrible end. And so I've been going to a friend's sculpting studio, spending a lot of time over there. My friend [Thomas Houseago] is a serious sculptor. They've been kind. I've literally been squatting in there for a month now. I'm taking a shit on their sanctity.'
Over wat hij van de afgelopen zes maanden en zijn scheiding heeft geleerd:
'Family first. People on their deathbeds don't talk about what they obtained or were awarded. They talk about their loved ones or their regrets – that seems to be the menu. I say that as someone who's let the work take me away. Kids are so delicate. They absorb everything. They need to have their hand held and things explained. They need to be listened to. When I get in that busy work mode, I'm not hearing. I want to be better at that.'
Over zijn kinderen en de moeilijke tijd na dat incident met zoon Maddox:
'It was all that for a while. I was really on my back and chained to a system when Child Services was called. And you know, after that, we've been able to work together to sort this out. We're both doing our best. I heard one lawyer say, "No one wins in court – it's just a matter of who gets hurt worse." And it seems to be true, you spend a year just focused on building a case to prove your point and why you're right and why they're wrong, and it's just an investment in vitriolic hatred. I just refuse. And fortunately my partner in this agrees. It's just very, very jarring for the kids, to suddenly have their family ripped apart.'
Over het verdriet van zijn scheiding:
'The first urge is to cling on. And then you've got a cliché: "If you love someone, set them free." Now I know what it means, by feeling it. It means to love without ownership. It means expecting nothing in return. But it sounds good written. It sounds good when Sting sings it. It doesn't mean fuck-all to me until, you know.'
Over wat hem nu gelukkig maakt in een leeg huis:
'I get up every morning and I make a fire. When I go to bed, I make a fire, just because—it makes me feel life. I just feel life in this house.'
Bij het interview schoot GQ Style ook een stel gevoelige foto's en video's van Brad Pitt in de nationale parken van Amerika waarin hij zijn worsteling van nu uitbeeld. Mooi.
Ook een geëmotioneerde Angelina Jolie praatte voor het eerst over haar scheiding van Brad Pitt >
