How Brad Pitt dealt with the ‘misery’ he felt after Angelina Jolie split
Brad Pitt felt inspired to create art following his “misery”-filled split from ex-wife Angelina Jolie.
The “Bullet Train” star, 58, told The Financial Times on Wednesday that when he was newly separated, he turned to two of his friends, Australian singer Nick Cave and British artist Thomas Houseago, for companionship, since they had been dealing with their own issues.
“Our mutual misery became comic,” Pitt said. “And out of this misery came a flame of joy in my life. I always wanted to be a sculptor; I’d always wanted to try it.”
The “Troy” star said his artwork is all about “self-reflection.”
“I was looking at my own life and really concentrating on owning my own s–t: where was I complicit in failures in my relationships, where have I misstepped,” he added.
“For me, it was born out of ownership of what I call a radical inventory of self, getting really brutally honest with me, and taking account of those I may have hurt.”
Pitt and Jolie, 47, called it quits days after a tumultuous private plane ride in 2016 that has brought upon allegations of physical abuse against the “Fight Club” star.
Although the FBI has cleared Pitt of any criminal charges, his ex-wife maintained as recently as this month that investigators had “probable cause” to prosecute him.
Amid the legal proceedings that have taken place for six years, the “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” star decided to get sober in 2019 to take some ownership of his faults.
“It was actually really freeing just to expose the ugly sides of yourself,” he told The New York Times of attending AA meetings at the time. “There’s great value in that.”
Pitt shared with The Financial Times on Wednesday that he now finds “comfort” in friendships where he can be completely himself, and so he wanted to “extend” that into the “outer world” through his work.
“What people make of it: I’m fine,” he added. “I feel safe here because there’s a focus on our struggles as human beings, because it’s fraught with peril. And joy as well.”
The “Moneyball” star concluded, “I find I have to walk with the pain I experience, and I have to walk with the joy, the beauty.”
