ACTOR · BORN 1963
Brad Pitt
- Born
- 18 December 1963, Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA
- Known for
- Fight Club (1999), Inglourious Basterds (2009), Se7en (1995), Deadpool 2 (2018)
135 archived facts 6 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Sep 2026
Brad Pitt: 21 Facts About Characters and Roles
- #024
For his role in A River Runs Through It, Pitt had to learn fly fishing. While practicing on the rooftops of buildings in Hollywood, he often stuck the hook into the back of his head. The difficult training process shows how dedicated he was to the role.
- #025
Brad Pitt portrayed Joe Maloney, a high school runner, in the 1991 film Across the Tracks, and the same year he appeared in a Levi's jeans commercial.
- #040
Brad Pitt played the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac in the 1994 horror film Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, an adaptation of Anne Rice's 1976 novel Interview with the Vampire.
- #042
Brad Pitt appeared in Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles as part of an ensemble cast that also included Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst, Christian Slater and Antonio Banderas.
- #043
Pitt was the third choice for the role of J.D. in Thelma & Louise. The first choice, William Baldwin, left the project to appear in Backdraft. The role became a turning point in Pitt's career and introduced him to a wide audience.
- #048
Brad Pitt starred in Legends of the Fall (1994), a film based on Jim Harrison's novel of the same name and set in the American West during the first four decades of the twentieth century.
- #050
In Legends of the Fall, Brad Pitt portrayed Tristan Ludlow, the son of Colonel William Ludlow, played by Anthony Hopkins.
- #055
Pitt's first leading role was in The Dark Side of the Sun, shot in the summer of 1988 in pre-war Yugoslavia. During editing, civil war broke out and most of the footage was lost; the missing footage was found in 1996 and returned to the producer. Pitt was paid $1,523 a week for seven weeks on the film and played a young man taken to the Adriatic Sea by his family.
- #056
Brad Pitt starred in the 1995 crime thriller Seven alongside Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey, playing a detective pursuing a serial killer who targets people he deems guilty of the Seven Deadly Sins.
- #060
After Seven's box-office success, Brad Pitt played the psychotic anarchist Jeffrey Goines in Terry Gilliam's 1995 science fiction film 12 Monkeys.
- #063
Pitt spoke with the director about the role of Cable in Deadpool 2 but could not accept it due to a scheduling conflict. The role went to Josh Brolin, and Pitt instead made a brief appearance in the film as Vanisher.
- #066
In the 1997 film The Devil's Own, Brad Pitt played Irish Republican Army terrorist Rory Devany opposite Harrison Ford, a part that required him to learn an Irish accent.
- #070
Brad Pitt played Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer in Jean-Jacques Annaud's film Seven Years in Tibet.
- #073
Brad Pitt took the lead role in the 1998 fantasy romance film Meet Joe Black, portraying a personification of death inhabiting a young man's body to learn what it is like to be human.
- #077
Brad Pitt played Tyler Durden in the 1999 film Fight Club, an adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's novel directed by David Fincher.
- #088
Pitt was considered for the lead role in Crimson Tide, but the role went to Denzel Washington. Washington won acclaim for his performance in the film. Pitt's absence from the project led him to follow a different path in his career.
- #089
Pitt auditioned for the role of J.D. in Heathers but was deemed "too sweet," and the role went to Christian Slater. He later played a similar role in Cutting Class. This experience was an important step in Pitt's career.
- #092
Pitt and Russell Crowe were director Ridley Scott's top two choices for the lead role in American Gangster. Crowe was ultimately cast. Although Pitt missed out on the role, he continued his career with other important projects.
- #121
Pitt wanted to play Darcy in Pride & Prejudice (2004) but could not take the role because of conflicting shooting dates.
- #127
Pitt was set to star in director Mike Figgis's film Urban Townies (2001), but he left the project to take a role in Spy Game (2001). This also led Figgis to leave the project.
- #135
Pitt auditioned for the role of Mike in Phantasm II (1988), but director Don Coscarelli gave the part to James Le Gros.
Continue through the archive
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- Wikipedia Brad Pitt — Wikipedia
- IMDb IMDb
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work

