Brad Pitt is, by far, one of the best actors out there.

From the Irish bare-knuckle boxer, Mickey, in Snatch, to Fight Club’s idealist, anti-establishment alter ego of The Narrator, Tyler Durden, Brad Pitt’s ability to change up his personality and take on convincing fictional roles is inspirational.

But the thing about being a good actor is that it begs the question: when is it acting and when is it real life?

It was just last year September when it was announced that Angelina Jolie had kicked Pitt out of the house, handing him divorce papers. It signalled the end of the #Brangelina era and the world was devastated. Although Jennifer Aniston stalwarts were hopeful, we were all left wondering just what had caused the split.

Sure Angelina had given her side of the story, but there was still a silence from Pitt that wasn’t satisfactory. We needed a solid, PR-style interview to set the story straight, kind of like an Oprah-esque tell-all.

And Pitt was the one who folded.

Yesterday, GQ released a new interview with the star, who sat down with them just in time for the release of his latest movie, War Machine. Yes, yes, they touched on the movie, but they spoke about other things, too, like Frank Ocean, smoking dope and what Pitt did immediately after the divorce.

They also did a weird photo shoot where Pitt got super emotional and did what he does best: act.

Here are a few things we learnt about Pitt:

Pitt’s officially retired from the pot-smoking, booze-drinking game:

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.

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.

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.

How the divorce has affected him

It was too sad to be here at first, so I went and stayed on a friend’s floor, a little bungalow in Santa Monica. I crashed over here a little bit, my friend [David] Fincher lives right here…I stayed at my friend’s house on the floor for a month and a half—until I was out there one morning, 5:30, and this surveillance van pulls up. They don’t know that I’m up behind a wall, and they pull up—and it’s a long story—but it was something more than TMZ, because they got into my friend’s computer. The stuff they can do these days…. So I got a little paranoid being there. I decided I had to pick up and come here.

…at the same time, it is a drag to have certain things drug out in public and misconstrued. I worry about it more for my kids, being subjected to it, and their friends getting ideas from it. And of course it’s not done with any kind of delicacy or insight—it’s done to sell. And so you know the most sensational sells, and that’s what they’ll be subjected to, and that pains me.

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.

 Jimi Hendrix may have written “May This Be Love” at Pitt’s current house.

Pitt believes Hendrix penned the psychedelic ballad, a highlight from 1967’s Are You Experienced, while staring at the grotto waterfall of his current Hollywood Hills home. The only problem: his source’s memory may be unreliable. “I don’t know if it’s true,” the Allied star admitted, “but a hippie came by and said he used to drop acid with Jim back there, so I run with the story.”

After learning to properly process his pain, he’s become a fan of R&B – including Frank Ocean.

I just got R&B for the first time. R&B comes from great pain, but it’s a celebration. To me, it’s embracing what’s left. It’s that African woman being able to laugh much more boisterously than I’ve ever been able to.

I’ve been listening to a lot of Frank Ocean. I find this young man so special. Talk about getting to the raw truth. He’s painfully honest. He’s very, very special. I can’t find a bad one.

Though he’s earned five Oscar nominations throughout his eclectic film career, his personal favourite project is also his biggest flop.

“I can turn out the hits over and over, and I just – my favorite movie is the worst-performing film of anything I’ve done,” he said, referring to 2007 revisionist Western The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, which costarred Casey Affleck.

“If I believe something is worthy, then I know it will be worthy in time to come.”

Damn, I love The Assassination of Jesse James.

Of course, the interview with GQ is long and if Pitt is your man, interesting. You can read the full cover feature here , and do take a time to look at the photographs where there is some real performance acting going on in the national park of the USA.

Here’s a video montage of the shoot:

[source: gq]