OlderBrad Pitt By: Annie Leibovitz
Annie Leibovitz photographs are on view at the Brooklyn Museum starting this week through January 2007. The exhibit is aptly titled Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life, 1990-2005 and will contain more than 100 photographs. Annie has the knack for making her subjects look irresistible, which is why they are her greatest fans. Check it:
Leibovitz’s 1994 shot of Brad Pitt for Vanity Fair is a case in point. The screen star sprawls across a bed draped in a velvety orange counterpane, in a room with custard-yellow walls and rust-colored floors. He wears leopard-skin pants, cowboy boots and a multi-hued striped shirt open at the chest and unbuttoned at the wrists. With one hand he strokes his long blond hair, while the other lies languorously across his waist. The pose suggests abandon, while the faraway expression in his stunning eyes signals absorption in some deep thought.
Leibovitz and Pitt collaborate on the tableau. The actor’s reverie reveals nothing; he may be trying to remember whether he watered his plants, for all the viewer can tell. He’s a professional, playing the role of “Brad Pitt,” vulnerable and wistful yet comfortingly macho artiste. For her part, Leibovitz draws on the library of art-historical references she must have in her brain. Here, she has posed Pitt to resemble the dead Thomas Chatterton, as rendered by the Victorian painter Henry Wallis.
Check out one more Brad article after the jump from USA Today!
The Golden Boy
By Donna Freydkin, USA TODAY
These days, it’s good to be Brad.
To pay the bills, he stars in and produces films, some artsy (Running With Scissors, which he produced, opens today; Babel, in which he stars, is out Oct. 27) and some slick (Ocean’s Thirteen just wrapped filming).
To give back, he helps with Hurricane Katrina rebuilding efforts and speaks out about global warming and poverty.
And at the end of the day, he goes home to Angelina Jolie and children Maddox, 5, Zahara, 1, and Shiloh, 4 months.
The actor, 42, once dismissed as a hunk with chiseled abs, has emerged as one of Hollywood’s most compelling leading men.
“I saw him go from this gawky kid to this unbelievably very solid, confident guy,” says celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz, who shot Pitt years ago and saw him recently during a shoot with Jolie. “I feel like he has an inner life now. Not that the other fellow wasn’t attractive — he was very attractive — but he was a kid. I just think he has grown up.”
Those close to Pitt say he’s riding high, at work and at home.
“I saw Brad two weeks ago,” says pal George Clooney. “He’s in such great spirits. He’s a really smart man who has grown into someone I’m really impressed by all the time. He’s a good friend. And what an amazing dad.”
Though Pitt’s looks still wow the ladies, his appeal now is more than skin deep.
“People love him,” says Entertainment Tonight’s Leonard Maltin. “He’s in a great place and seems to be doing everything right.”
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The career man
Posted 10/19/2006 10:06 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions | Subscribe to stories like this Subscribe to stories like this
Not always the star: Pitt’s older character in Babel is just one of many in a story with intersecting plotlines.
BRAD’S THE MAN
The golden boy: Why’s it’s great to be Brad Pitt
The family man: Angie, kids come first for Brad the dad
The philanthropist: The Brad that keeps on giving
The movie star: He’s still one of Hollywood’s leading men
Timeline: The life and times of Brad are pretty imprssive
By Donna Freydkin, USA TODAY
Pitt is ranked 20th in Forbes’ list of powerful celebrities and earns an estimated $20 million a movie.
But he increasingly has gained respect for being more than just a pretty face. To those in the business, his appeal is as obvious as those piercing baby blues.
“He is arguably one of the biggest stars in the world, if not the biggest. Men want to be him, and women want to be with him,” says Jerry Weintraub, who has produced the Ocean’s movie franchise and has been friends with Pitt for years.
Pitt’s career has never been better. He’s starring in unconventional films that show his grizzled side, such as Babel. And through Plan B, he is producing edgy projects such as Running With Scissors and the current box office hit The Departed. He’s also producing A Mighty Heart, starring girlfriend Jolie, 31, as the widow of murdered reporter Daniel Pearl.
In Babel, Pitt plays a helpless husband who tries to save his wife, who is accidentally shot while on a tense vacation in Morocco. Variety praises Pitt for giving his character “weight and strength,” and the Hollywood Reporter calls his performance “committed.”
Bring up Pitt’s name to anyone associated with him, and you hear stories of personal thank-you notes, congratulatory e-mails and a level of thoughtfulness unusual in a star of his caliber.
“Brad is not pretentious. There’s nothing artsy-fartsy about him,” says Running With Scissors director Ryan Murphy. “Brad is incredibly enthusiastic. I heard he’d liked the script, and I met him at the (production) offices, and here come these handmade Prada shoes with Brad Pitt attached. He said something to me like, ‘You’ve got wicked skills.’ ”
That unaffectedness, says Simon Kinberg, who wrote the 2005 hit Mr. & Mrs. Smith, “is kind of an amazing thing. It’s not a game or strategy with him.”
In particular, Kinberg remembers one long day of shooting when the exhausted cast and crew had worked into the night and saw no end in sight.
“Brad, out of the blue, started doing jumping jacks, calling out to the crew, getting everyone’s spirits up at 4 a.m. at some awful diner in downtown L.A.,” Kinberg says. “He was the guy who would cheerlead for the movie — and he didn’t have to. He’s the top, and the energy flows from the top down.”
Pitt doesn’t mind looking less than perfect. In Babel, he goes gray and has bags under his eyes.
This isn’t a star with blockbuster on the brain. Ever since he stole hearts in 1991’s Thelma & Louise, he has had hits (1995’s serial killer drama Se7en, last year’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith), but just as many misses (1997’s Seven Years in Tibet, 2004’s Troy). He has earned one Oscar nomination, for his supporting turn in 1995’s Twelve Monkeys. These days, Pitt mixes it up. He took a pay cut for 2007’s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, but he’s also reprising Rusty Ryan in the third Ocean’s installment, due in June.
Film historian Leonard Maltin applauds Pitt’s willingness to “sacrifice some of his movie-star persona for the sake of a really good part. What we’re seeing is his willingness, if not downright eagerness, to challenge himself with more demanding and daring roles.”
And that gets major props from Darren Aronofsky, who was ready to direct Pitt in The Fountain before the actor dropped out because of creative differences.
“Brad’s a great guy, and we’re still friendly. We’re OK with the breakup,” Aronofsky says. “Brad’s a really smart, very talented guy. He’s come to a place in his work where he’s doing interesting stuff. He’s looking great. The pretty-boy thing wasn’t my type of hetero joy. I like the wizened Brad now.”
Others appreciate his taste for the unconventional, such as his decision to executive-produce the documentary God Grew Tired of Us: The Story of Lost Boys of Sudan. Writer/director Christopher Quinn had run out of money and says that, without Pitt’s help, the movie would likely not have been made. Quinn, introduced through their mutual friends, met Pitt at his home.
The meeting was casual and Pitt was disarming. But, Quinn says, he “has incredible follow-through. When we won (two awards) at Sundance, he sent me a note saying how proud he was to be a part of the movie.”
The philanthropist
By Donna Freydkin, USA TODAY
One thing Pitt has learned: Superstardom can be used for good.
Pitt, producer Jerry Weintraub says, is “interested in different things now than he was 10 years ago. He’s really giving back now.”
Since getting involved with Jolie, a U.N. goodwill ambassador, he has become a vocal ambassador for Bono’s One campaign, which seeks to eradicate poverty. He also chairs the jury for the Global Green project, which seeks to reduce climate change by constructing environmentally friendly buildings and cities.
Matt Petersen of Global Green jetted on a commercial flight to New Orleans with Pitt to judge the entrants in a competition to rebuild the city with eco-friendly buildings. Petersen and Pitt spent hours discussing finalists and poring over the applications.
“Some people want attention. He’s low-key and interested to talk to people,” Petersen says. “He’s not afraid to walk into the middle of the street in a neighborhood, walk up to people and ask questions. When people meet him and ask him if it’s really Brad Pitt, he’s very gracious. He smiles and says, ‘Yes, it’s really me.’ ”
Pam Dashiell, president of New Orleans’ Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, met Pitt in July. They rode a bus so Pitt could see Katrina’s devastation himself. Sure, he’s charming, she says, but more important, “he’s just a really smart, good person. He has none of the inflated ego you’d think of when you think of movie stars. He’s straightforward.”
When it comes to his philanthropy, Petersen says, Pitt does his homework. While in New Orleans during the architecture competition, Pitt “went to every meeting, met with local politicians and really wanted to learn firsthand what were the challenges.”
His relationship with Jolie has taken the Los Angeles-based actor to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum; Namibia, where Shiloh was born; and now India. Pitt and Jolie have set up a foundation and given money to Doctors Without Borders and Global Action for Children. They also pledged the millions publications paid for photos of Shiloh to charities.
One of Pitt’s new pals is economist Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University.
“He’s just wanting to get this right, wanting to be accurate and on target,” Sachs says. “He looks at the evidence and tries to understand the debate. Now I see him as very interested in the environment and the links between poverty and the environment.”
By Donna Freydkin, USA TODAY
The life and times of Brad Pitt:
Dec. 18, 1963: Born in Shawnee, Okla.
1986: Drops out of the University of Missouri two credits shy of graduating with a degree in journalism.
May 1991: Breaks out as the back-stabbing, thieving cad in the drama Thelma & Louise.
December 1994: A long-haired Pitt shows up on the big screen again in Legends of the Fall.
January 1995: Crowned People’s Sexiest Man Alive, an honor he earned again in 2000.
September 1995: Plays a cop in Se7en; fiancée Gwyneth Paltrow appears with him in the film.
February 1996: Earns his only Oscar nomination for his supporting turn in Twelve Monkeys.
June 1997: Announces his breakup from Paltrow after 2½ years together.
July 29, 2000: Marries Jennifer Aniston in Malibu, Calif.
January 2001: Earns praise for playing a bare-knuckle boxing gypsy in Guy Ritchie’s Snatch.
Nov. 22, 2001: Guest-stars on Aniston’s hit NBC show, Friends.
May 2004: Plays Achilles in Troy, which was mauled by critics but earned $133 million in the USA.
January 2005: Announces his split from Aniston after four years of marriage.
March 2005: Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s first official joint public appearance is at ShoWest in Las Vegas for Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
June 2005: Plays a charming assassin in the hit comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which co-stars Jolie.
December 2005: Announces his plans to adopt Jolie’s children, Maddox and Zahara.
May 27: Welcomes his first biological child, daughter Shiloh Nouvel, with Jolie.
July: Travels to New Orleans to help launch the Global Green eco-rebuilding competition.
Sorry Brad but that movie has already been done.
Thanks Jared for the new thread! Love that Brad!
The writer, Donna Freydkin, did her homework for this article.
Thanks Jared for the new thread.
Anna,
Thanks for checking out the yahoo group. I’ll finish posting the rest of the info tomorrow.
Jared and Audrey
Thank you for the new thread.
Brad, Angelina on Jaipur trip
Jaipur, October 19, 2006
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt spent their first day in the city closeted in their hotel. The Hollywood couple landed in Jaipur on Wednesday.
Superintendent of police VK Singh, who is in charge of the Sanganer airport area, told the Hindustan Times that the stars were on a personal visit and hence, there was no need for them to inform the police. “They just want to spend some quiet time with each other. There is hardly any security risk, which is why the police have kept away from them,” he said.
A senior city palace security official, Narayan Singh, said that Brad was in the city to shoot for an ad film and his cameramen had spent an hour and a half at the palace.
Sources said Angelina and Brad might take some time out to select a location for their next film. The managers of the hotel where the two are staying were tight lipped about the details of their celebrity guests.
Thanks for the USA article, it’s great. I specially loved what Annie Leibovitz and Darren Aronofsky said.
Thanks Jared for the new Thread, we really needed it. I love that picture of Brad, so hot and sexy
Thanks for the new thread Jared and also that for posting that article.
Yay! new thread! Thanks so much JJ
mmmm….Mr. Pitt lookin’ sexay!
Daddy Brad is the sexiest Brad ever imo.
Giving away millions, whether its one or twenty is so generous. I can’t imagine having that much money, much less giving it away. I admire all the celebrities who donate the big bucks but Brad and Angelina are my favorites.
Love him. so sexy. he exude it
3 | Hope | - Thanks Hope for posting the USA Articles, they are very great, some of my favorite parts of the articles:
“I saw Brad two weeks ago,” says pal George Clooney. “He’s in such great spirits. He’s a really smart man who has grown into someone I’m really impressed by all the time. He’s a good friend. And what an amazing dad.”
“He’s fantastic with his kids,” producer Jerry Weintraub says. “He’s totally involved. He takes them around; he takes them every place he goes.
“Brad’s a great guy, and we’re still friendly. We’re OK with the breakup,” Aronofsky says. “Brad’s a really smart, very talented guy. He’s come to a place in his work where he’s doing interesting stuff. He’s looking great. The pretty-boy thing wasn’t my type of hetero joy. I like the wizened Brad now.”
I saw him go from this gawky kid to this unbelievably very solid, confident guy,” says celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz, who shot Pitt years ago and saw him recently during a shoot with Jolie. “I feel like he has an inner life now. Not that the other fellow wasn’t attractive — he was very attractive — but he was a kid. I just think he has grown up.”
“People love him,” says Entertainment Tonight’s Leonard Maltin. “He’s in a great place and seems to be doing everything right.”
7 | Maniston | - Hey Maniston I checked the YG, I really enjoyed reading those posts, thanks for creating the file on them
Thank you Angelina, and Mad, and Z, and Shiloh-
Little Braddy Pitt is now Brad Pitt, the Man
“I saw him go from this gawky kid to this unbelievably very solid, confident guy,” says celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz, who shot Pitt years ago and saw him recently during a shoot with Jolie. “I feel like he has an inner life now. Not that the other fellow wasn’t attractive — he was very attractive — but he was a kid. I just think he has grown up.”
Thanks JJ!
Oh and thanks to Hope for the USA articles. I love how they say Brad it riding high at work and at home. Geroge Clooney said some great things too about Brad. Counter what George says.. someone who actually knows Brad, to what the tabs are saying. Night and day. But Brad doesnt have to sue anyone. He knows his truth. Also was nice to read what Annie says about him being more grownup now. Cant wait for Angie’s Vogue interview!
Hey Maniston I checked the YG, I really enjoyed reading those posts, thanks for creating the file on them
17 | Alexanderina
You’re welcome. I’ll add the rest tomorrow.
Thanks Jared for the update! :)
Hope, thanks for the article. i smiply love to read how he has changed…….. :) and a good n great change….’cos of the family!!
Hey all, I’m about to go to sleep but there’s something I picked out from that great USA article (thanks Observer2):
March 2005: Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s first official joint public appearance is at ShoWest in Las Vegas for Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
Now wasn’t Brad & Angelina’s first public appearance together at the Muhammed Ali Center in Louisville? They were both in formal attire Angelina wearing red, Brad in a tux.. I remember this vividly because CNN kept reporting it LOL!!! “Their first public appearance together…”
I’ll check reponses tomorrow.
Thank you JJ for a new thread. Brooklyn Museum is near where I grew up. I’ll have to catch this exhibit this weekend.
Goodnight.
23 | Frenchy
The Muhammed Ali Center was in November.
21 | Maniston | - Cool :). I just created a file on the YG with the USA Articles on Brad,and I hope I did it right :)
Jared,
Finally, a new thread. Thanks! Braddy really looks great. And thanks to Hope for posting that USA Today article –it was great and to me painted an accurate portrait of Brad, not the stupid “He still loves Jen” BS that the tabs print all the time.
he is not aging well…
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