Brad Pitt Thought About Turning His Back on Acting After Becoming Bored With Himself
Brad Pitt didn’t envision himself working as an actor forever. He even toyed with the idea of taking a brief hiatus earlier in his career after acting lost some of its excitement.
Brad Pitt didn’t think he had that many years left in him as an actor
Pitt was already planning an exit strategy in regards to acting even at the peak of his Hollywood star power. Pitt was in his late 30s when he felt he wanted to explore his other passions away from the film industry.
“On one hand, I’m hitting my stride now. On the other hand, I’ll tell you truthfully, I’m completely bored with myself in films. I am still at a viable age, but I’m hitting the cusp,” Pitt once said in an interview with Hello.
At the time, Pitt believed he only had, at maximum, five years left.
“I have other interests that I want to pursue that mean more to me,” Pitt said. “I think there’s room to go away from it for a while and then you can come back and reinvent.”
Pitt stuck with acting much longer than he predicted. But a decade later, he felt that turning 50 might be the true cut off point of his acting career. He saw himself leaning more towards the role of a film producer in his older years.
“I’m really enjoying the producorial (sic) side … and getting stories to the plate that may have had a harder time otherwise. I’ve gotten away with a few things and I’ve been pissed off by a few things,” he said.
Brad Pitt recently shared that retirement is a long way off
Pitt stuck around the film industry longer than he might have expected to in prior years. But talks reemerged of the Oscar-winner retiring from the film industry after an interview that he did with GQ.
“I consider myself on my last leg,” he said. “This last semester or trimester. What is this section gonna be? And how do I wanna design that?”
But speaking to AFP (via France 24), Pitt clarified his remark.
“I’m not getting out by any means,” he said.
Pitt explained that his statement in GQ wasn’t a reference to his possible retirement.
“That’s not what I was saying,” he explained. “I’m over that hump of middle age and so I’m looking at that last leg… how do I want to spend that time? At my age, you’ve made enough mistakes… now there’s a comfort in applying that kind of wisdom.”
Brad Pitt is doing less and less acting
Although Pitt shared he didn’t plan on slowing down anytime soon, the Fight Club star asserted that he intentionally wasn’t acting as much as he used to. In his 50s, Pitt felt he was aging out of the film industry.
“I’m behind the camera on the producing side and I enjoy that a lot,” he said. “But I keep doing less and less. I really believe that overall it’s a younger man’s game – not that there aren’t substantial parts for older characters – I just feel, the game itself, it’ll move on naturally. There will be a natural selection to it all.”
Pitt was interested in seeing what the film industry had in store for some of his younger peers. Especially with there being so many new ways to access content nowadays.
“I really appreciate the streaming services because we’re seeing more and more quality projects being made. We’re seeing more writers and directors and actors getting a shot. It just tells you how many talented people are out there,” he added.
