ACTOR · BORN 1963
Brad Pitt
- Born
- 18 December 1963, Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA
- Known for
- Troy (2004), Fight Club (1999), Se7en (1995), Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)
60 archived facts 7 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Nov 2026
Brad Pitt (born 18 December 1963) is an actor best known for Troy, Fight Club and Se7en.
Brad Pitt over the years
60 Interesting Facts About Brad Pitt
Interesting Facts (8)
- #001
Dianne Wiest is his favorite actress.
- #002
A girl went to Pitt's Hollywood-area home shortly after midnight January 7, 1999 and crawled in through an open window, dressed herself in his clothes and stayed for 10 hours before the alarm went off. Athena Rolando, 19, was ordered not to contact the actor and to stay 100 yards away from him for three years (1999).
- #003
Sued Damiani International, the company which created the wedding ring he gave Jennifer Aniston. According to Pitt, the ring was his design and was to be exclusive. The company has since been selling replicas and indicating Pitt/Aniston's endorsement of the ring.
- #004
Had done a television commercial for Toyota (Altis model) that aired only in Asia. The car became very popular and its sales resulted in Toyota getting an almost 32% share of the passenger car market.
- #005
Was attacked by Vitalii Sediuk and a restraining order was issued, ordering him to stay away from Brad.
- #006
He and ex-wife Jennifer Aniston campaigned in the United States to save EastEnders (1985) from being axed there (2003).
- #007
Occasionally flies a Cessna 208B Caravan belonging to Chivan Productions.
- #008
Mentioned in the song Shania Twain: That Don't Impress Me Much (1998).
Production Story (19)
- #009
He only got the part in The Legend of Bagger Vance after Robert Redford changed his mind about starring in it in addition to directing it.
- #010
He was scheduled to make Waking Up in Reno (2002) with Juliette Lewis but the date kept being moved which meant he was available when director Guy Ritchie asked him to do Diamonds which was retitled Snatch (2000) on release. By the time Waking Up was ready, he and Jennifer were unavailable so their roles went to Billy Bob Thornton and Natasha Richardson.
- #011
Brad Pitt met with the director to discuss the role of Cable in Deadpool 2 (2018), but could not commit due to scheduling conflicts, so the role was given to Josh Brolin. Although he was cast as Vanisher instead.
- #012
Turned down a role as an astronaut in Apollo 13 (1995) to accept his role in Seven (1995).
- #013
After watching Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), Pitt asked director Guy Ritchie if he could be in his next film. He could not master the English accent, so Ritchie gave him the role of Mickey the One Punch Pikey, an Irish fighter, in Snatch (2000).
- #014
He and Russell Crowe were director Ridley Scott's first two choices for the lead in American Gangster (2007). Crowe was eventually cast.
- #015
Initially did not want to appear in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), although he was the one who gave the screenplay to director Doug Liman.
- #016
His first starring role in a feature film was in The Dark Side of the Sun (1988), shot in pre-war Yugoslavia during the summer of 1988. As editing neared completion, civil war broke out in the region and much of the footage was lost. In 1996, after a five-year search, all of the lost footage was found and returned to producer Andjelo Arandjelovic, who is working on getting a distribution deal. Pitt was paid $1,523 per week for seven weeks. He played a young American taken by his family to the Adriatic Sea to search for a cure for a rare skin disease.
- #017
Owns the rights to the Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs (2002). He wanted it to be remade with he and Tom Cruise in the leading roles. The movie was eventually remade as The Departed (2006). Pitt served as a producer on the movie.
- #018
He was scheduled to star in Urban Townies (2001) for director Mike Figgis, but pulled out to star in Spy Game (2001), causing Mike to then walk away.
- #019
Was considered for two roles which went to Johnny Depp: Ichabod Crane in Sleepy Hollow (1999) and Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). Both were directed by Tim Burton.
- #020
Auditioned for the role of J.D. in the black comedy Heathers (1989) and, though he showed talent, casting directors thought him to be "too sweet" for the role, which later went to Christian Slater. He would later go on to a very similar role in the horror film Cutting Class (1989).
- #021
Wanted to play Darcy in Bride & Prejudice (2004), but was not able to work out the filming dates.
- #022
With Brad Grey's departure for Paramount Pictures and after the divorce settlement with ex-wife Jennifer Aniston, he now solely owns Plan B Entertainment.
- #023
Originally cast as Colin Sullivan in The Departed (2006), but later dropped out. He continued to produce the film under his (and his then wife Jennifer Aniston's) production company, Plan B.
- #024
He was the third choice for the role of J.D. in Thelma & Louise (1991). William Baldwin, the first choice, left to star in Backdraft (1991).
- #025
He auditioned for the role of Mike in Phantasm II (1988), but director Don Coscarelli instead chose James Le Gros.
- #026
Was originally signed on to play the role of Billy Hannan in "Duets" but he dropped out of the film, causing the filming to be delayed from its original start date of September 1997.
- #027
Brad Pitt met with the director to discuss the role of Cable in Deadpool 2 (2018), but could not commit due to scheduling conflicts, so the role was given to Josh Brolin. Although he was cast as Vanisher instead.
Behind the Scenes (4)
- #028
He was trained to handle weapons by renowned Hollywood gun coach Thell Reed, who has also trained such actors as Val Kilmer, Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Sam Elliot, Girard Swan, Ben Foster and Kurt Russell.
- #029
Tore his Achilles tendon during the production of Troy (2004), in which he plays Achilles, coincidentally. His injury caused the production of Ocean's Twelve (2004) to be pushed back to April 2004.
- #030
Broke his arm during the filming of Seven (1995). The injury was written into the movie.
- #031
Had to learn to fly-cast for his role in A River Runs Through It (1992). He practiced on top of buildings in Hollywood. During these practices, he frequently hooked himself in the back of his head.
Characters & Cast (2)
- #032
Had to learn to fly-cast for his role in A River Runs Through It (1992). He practiced on top of buildings in Hollywood. During these practices, he frequently hooked himself in the back of his head.
- #033
He was scheduled to star in Urban Townies (2001) for director Mike Figgis, but pulled out to star in Spy Game (2001), causing Mike to then walk away.
Easter Eggs & References (2)
- #034
Made a cameo appearance with Matt Damon for free in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) as a favor to Ocean's Eleven (2001) co-star and close friend George Clooney - the film was Clooney's directorial debut.
- #035
He and his Ocean's Eleven (2001) / Ocean's Twelve (2004) co-stars, Julia Roberts, George Clooney and Elliott Gould, all have guest-starred on the sitcom Friends (1994), though not in the same episodes.
Career & Awards (7)
- #036
Used to act at the Vandevort Theater in Springfield, Missouri. He still visits and donates to the theater.
- #037
As of 2016, he is the only actor to work on two films each with Ridley Scott, and his brother Tony Scott.
- #038
Had done a television commercial for Toyota (Altis model) that aired only in Asia. The car became very popular and its sales resulted in Toyota getting an almost 32% share of the passenger car market.
- #039
Has worked with seven directors who have won a Best Director Oscar: Robert Redford, Barry Levinson, Steven Soderbergh, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, and Robert Zemeckis.
- #040
He appeared on the last episode of Jackass (2000), where the crew "kidnapped" him.
- #041
He has produced or executive produced nine films that have been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: The Departed (2006), The Tree of Life (2011), Moneyball (2011), 12 Years a Slave (2013), Selma (2014), The Big Short (2015), Moonlight (2016), Vice (2018) and F1: The Movie (2025). The Departed, 12 Years a Slave and Moonlight all won in the category but Pitt was only awarded the Oscar for producing 12 Years a Slave.
- #042
Initially did not want to appear in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), although he was the one who gave the screenplay to director Doug Liman.
Life & Family (18)
- #043
Sued Damiani International, the company which created the wedding ring he gave Jennifer Aniston. According to Pitt, the ring was his design and was to be exclusive. The company has since been selling replicas and indicating Pitt/Aniston's endorsement of the ring.
- #044
Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad on September 20, 2016.
- #045
His first job was dancing in a chicken suit to draw in customers at an El Pollo Loco restaurant on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.
- #046
Showed his parents the "Chemical Burn" scene to convince them not to watch Fight Club (1999).
- #047
Was attacked by Vitalii Sediuk and a restraining order was issued, ordering him to stay away from Brad.
- #048
He and ex-wife Jennifer Aniston campaigned in the United States to save EastEnders (1985) from being axed there (2003).
- #049
Purchased a mansion in Southern California from the actress who portrays Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (Cassandra Peterson). He reportedly paid $1.7 million for the house. This mansion is filled with antiques and has a "vampirish" look to it (1996).
- #050
He took Greek language lessons in secret to surprise his then-wife Jennifer Aniston who is of Greek ancestry.
- #051
A short while after completing A River Runs Through It (1992), he fled to Amsterdam where he briefly resided for three months by himself in a small basement apartment before returning to the United States to film Kalifornia (1993).
- #052
Speaks French fluently.
- #053
Renowned architect Frank Gehry renovated the wine cellar in the home in which Pitt and wife Jennifer Aniston resided. Pitt subsequently had done an informal apprenticeship in Gehry's Los Angeles office.
- #054
Pitt kept working with producer Harvey Weinstein even after knowing that two of his partners had been sexually harassed by him. Pitt dated Gwyneth Paltrow (from 1994 to 1997), who accused Weinstein of sexually harassing her in the 1990s while she was dating Pitt, who knew about it since Paltrow told him when it happened, according to her interview on the Howard Stern Show on May 23, 2018. Peter Biskind, the author of the 2004 book "Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film" (which depicts Weinstein as a brutish, violent man who nevertheless managed to charm all the right people in Hollywood), told Vanity Fair in October 2017 that he learned of the incident while reporting his 2001 Vanity Fair cover on Brad Pitt, but wasn't able to mention it in his story because Pitt had gone off-the-record. "He made me turn the tape recorder off ... but he did say he liked Harvey, despite the advances he had made on Gwyneth Paltrow," Biskind said. Pitt was also married to Angelina Jolie until 2016, with whom he had 6 children, who also accused Weinstein of sexually harassing her in the beginning of her career. In 2009, Pitt starred in Inglourious Basterds (2009), which was produced by Weinstein and distributed by The Weinstein Company, and a few years later he approached Weinstein and asked him to produce the movie Killing Them Softly (2012). Jolie said in an interview for The Guardian on September 4, 2021 that she fought with Pitt over that, but he still wanted Weinstein to produce the movie anyway, and Jolie said that it hurt her that Pitt was happy to work with Weinstein despite knowing he had assaulted her. Jolie never worked with Weinstein after he harassed her and avoided attending promotional events for Pitt's 'Killing Them Softly'. After his separation from Jolie, Pitt hired Weinstein's former attorney and PR fixer strategist, Matthew Hiltzik, who helped kill a New York Times' 2004 exposé on Weinstein. Pitt later bought the movie rights to the 2019 book "She Said" by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, the New York Times investigative reporters who exposed Weinstein's history of abuse. The book was turned into a movie, She Said (2022), which was produced by Pitt.
- #055
Donated five million dollars of his own money to rebuild homes in Katrina-ravaged New Orleans.
- #056
On the invitation of Virgin CEO Richard Branson, he visited over 100 orphans affected by HIV at a facility run by The Salvation Army in South Africa as well as personally meeting Nelson Mandela and discussing Mandela's 46664 campaign (named for his prison ID number) to call attention to South Africa's devastating AIDS epidemic. After South Africa, he then flew to Ethiopia on behalf of DATA, a third-world lobby group co-founded by U2's Bono.
- #057
He and ex-wife Jennifer Aniston spent $1 million on their wedding (2000).
- #058
Was a varsity level softball pitcher in junior high, whose fastballs were so powerful his nickname was "Arm".
- #059
A girl went to Pitt's Hollywood-area home shortly after midnight January 7, 1999 and crawled in through an open window, dressed herself in his clothes and stayed for 10 hours before the alarm went off. Athena Rolando, 19, was ordered not to contact the actor and to stay 100 yards away from him for three years (1999).
- #060
Has Single Engine Land pilot license.
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- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button — Brad Pitt comes up in the facts on that page
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Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
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