“I see myself on my last leg” – The Hollywood Reporter

Four paragraphs in GQIn Brad Pitt’s new cover story, the Oscar-winning superstar looks to the end of his career.

“I consider myself on my last leg,” says a “thoughtful” Pitt, 58, of this next and final phase of his career. “This last semester or trimester. What will this section be? And how do I want to do that?”

Although the title profile, titled Brad Pitt’s Wildest Dreams, is by Ottessa Moshfegh, the author of six fiction books, including the one just published Lapvona — offers no definitive answers to this question from Pitt, it paints a picture of a dedicated and prolific producer who calls him a “literary kingmaker.”

Through his production company Plan B, Pitt, along with partners Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, won an Oscar for 12 years a slave and is currently preparing upcoming releases women speak by director Sarah Polley (“a movie as profound as anything made this decade,” says Pitt), Marilyn Monroe biopic Blond with Ana de Armas by director Andrew Dominik and Maria Schrader she said about journalists Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor’s investigation into Harvey Weinstein.

That doesn’t mean he’s disappearing from the screen just yet. Pitt is the next star in the high-profile blockbuster fast train (5 August) by David Leitch and Sony. It stars Pitt as an assassin on a Tokyo-Kyoto train who has returned to his risky job after suffering a burnout. He heads a cast that also includes Sandra Bullock, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Bad Bunny, Joey King, Zazie Beetz, Logan Lerman, Brian Tyree Henry, Michael Shannon, Karen Fukuhara, and others.

“In the conversations I had with Brad, the ultimate goal was to make a film that would be entertaining and escapist, fresh and original, and make people want to come back to the movies,” says Leitch, who was once Pitt’s stunt double was such films as Fight Club, Troy and Mr & Mrs Smith.

Pitt’s most recent effort did just that, since he had a small role in it The Lost City opposite Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum. The Paramount film recently surpassed the $100 million mark domestically and was praised for luring older women moviegoers back to theaters. Also on Pitt’s list is the highly anticipated epic by Damien Chazelle Babylon, opposite Margot Robbie, on the transition from silent film to “talkie”. This film, also from Paramount, is scheduled for release on December 25th. And he’s involved in an Apple Original Films thriller for filmmaker Jon Watts, opposite George Clooney.

The profile is filled with personal revelations. Pitt talks about quitting smoking and being part of 12-step recovery groups after becoming sober almost six years ago. “I had a really cool men’s group here that was very private and selective, so it was safe. Because I’ve seen things of other people being taped pouring out their guts and it’s just horrifying to me.”

Pitt also seems to find solace in the fact that the writer’s husband suffers from a condition called prosopagnosia, an inability to recognize people’s faces. Although he’s never been officially diagnosed, Pitt has a hard time remembering people he’s met because he has trouble recognizing their faces.

He also shares that he’s a late bloomer when it comes to finding joy after spending years with “mild depression.” Pitt explains, “Music fills me with so much joy. I think joy is a more recent discovery, later in life. I was always moving with the current, drifting in one direction and on to the next. I think I spent years with a bit of depression, and it was only when I came to terms with it and tried to embrace all sides of myself – the beautiful and the ugly – that I was able to capture those moments of joy.”

It’s clear from the profile that none of his staff are keen on Pitt retiring from acting after more than 30 years as one of Hollywood’s most in-demand talents. “He’s one of the last remaining stars on the big screen,” says Quentin Tarantino, who directed the actor Inglorious Basterds and Once upon a time in Hollywood The latter earned Pitt an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. “It’s just a different race of people. And honestly I don’t think you can describe exactly what that is because it’s like describing starlight. I noticed when we did Inglourious Basterds. When Brad was in the frame, I didn’t feel like I was looking through the camera’s viewfinder. I felt like I was watching a movie. Just his presence within the four walls of the frame gave that impression.”

Tarantino continued, “He’s proposing an older-style movie star. He’s really handsome. He’s also very manly and he’s also very hip; he gets the joke. …But what only the directors who work with Brad and the actors who play opposite him really know what he’s so incredibly talented at is his ability to really understand the scene. He may not be able to articulate it, but he has an instinctive understanding of it.”

Pitt doesn’t seem keen on saying goodbye either, suggesting he’ll continue to create for years to come, whether through producing, music or one of his other passions, art and sculpture. “I’m one of those creatures that speaks through art,” Pitt tells Moshfegh. “I just always want to do it. If I don’t do anything, I kind of die.”