Biography
Born in Oklahoma and raised in Missouri, Brad Pitt viewed Hollywood from afar in his youth. As he came of age, he attended the University of Missouri, but just shy of graduation, he left, setting sail for California so he could try his hand at becoming an actor in the mid-1980s. His early work was mostly uncredited, with appearances in "Less Than Zero" (1987) and an episode of "21 Jump Street" (Fox 1987-1991). His first leading film role was in "The Dark Side of the Sun" (1988), but the film was barely seen. That was followed up by a starring role on the show "Glory Days" (Fox 1990), but that only lasted six episodes. Pitt's first notable role arrived in Ridley Scott's "Thelma & Louise" (1991), which led to another scene-stealing turn a few years later in the Quentin Tarantino-written "True Romance" (1993). Nearly a decade after leaving college to go to California, Pitt broke through in 1994, where he starred in "Interview with the Vampire" (1994) and "Legends of the Fall" (1994). He followed that up in the next few years with memorable performances in David Fincher's "Seven" (1995) and Terry Gilliam's "12 Monkeys" (1995), the latter of which led to his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. That good run of acclaim hit a speed bump after Pitt starred in a pair of commercial and critical disappointments in "Seven Years in Tibet" (1997) and "Meet Joe Black" (1998). He wasn't down for long, though, as he reunited with David Fincher for his critically acclaimed turn as Tyler Durden in "Fight Club" (1999). Around that time is when Pitt met Jennifer Aniston. The two married in 2000 and Pitt even earned an Emmy nomination for a guest role alongside Aniston on "Friends" (NBC 1994-2004). At the start of the new millennium, he starred in a number of films, including Steven Soderbergh's "Ocean's Eleven" (2001) and "Ocean's Twelve" (2004), the Greek epic "Troy" (2004), and "Mr & Mrs. Smith" (2005). He starred opposite Angelina Jolie in "Mr & Mrs. Smith" and that's where their relationship blossomed following Pitt's divorce with Aniston. The pair did not marry until 2014, though they were together in 2005 as Pitt adopted Jolie's children and the two started having their own kids. In 2007, Pitt began a run of acting roles that led to more Oscar buzz and acclaim, starting with "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (2007) and and leading to his Best Actor-nominated performance in Fincher's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (2008). A few years later, Pitt notched another Best Actor nomination for his performance as Billy Beane in the baseball-inspired "Moneyball" (2011). He even earned a credit for the Best Picture nomination "Moneyball" received as he was a producer on the movie. Two years later, Pitt would win a Best Picture award for producing "12 Years a Slave" (2013). While winning awards for behind the scenes work, he still kept up as a box office star with "World War Z" (2013). In 2016, Pitt and Jolie separated, coinciding with a stretch where Pitt appeared in more cameos than starring roles. 2019 was a big return, though, as Pitt starred alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" (2019) and the space drama "Ad Astra" (2019).
