When last we heard from Brad Pitt, he was “sculpting, vaping, and listening to Bon Iver” in a Los Angeles studio owned by British artist Thomas Houseago. Now, if this new GQ profile of Pitt is to be believed, he’s currently living the life we all imagined Bon Iver was when he recorded For Emma, Forever Ago. That includes making his own matcha, building fires both morning and night, and spending lots and lots of time by himself. The profile describes him as looking like “an L.A. dad on a juice cleanse, gearing up to do house projects” while living like a “stripped-down Samuel Beckett [character], in a blank landscape, asking big questions of a futile world.”
Yep, Brad Pitt’s still sad. And why shouldn’t he be? He went through an ugly divorce from Angelina Jolie that was spurred, apparently, by allegations of child abuse that were eventually investigated by the FBI (they’ve since closed the case with no charges). The whole experience has prompted him to give up drinking, own up to his failures, and, apparently, reexamine his place in the artistic world. In one revealing exchange, he opens up about the weight of being Brad:
After all this, do you feel constrained as an actor in some ways?
No, I don’t really think of myself much as an actor anymore. It takes up so little of my year and my focus. Film feels like a cheap pass for me, as a way to get at those hard feelings. It doesn’t work anymore, especially being a dad.
On the pie chart, what is acting?
Acting would be very small slice.