Why Brad Pitt Said Fatherhood Made Him ‘Hard As Nails’
Superstar Brad Pitt recently won his first Oscar for the 2019 film Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. Headlining countless movies since the 1990s, Pitt has been the main topic of tabloids for decades due to his acting as well as his personal life.
Co-parenting six children with ex-wife Angelina Jolie, Pitt talked about the joys of fatherhood after the birth of their twins Vivienne and Knox in 2008.
Brangelina splits up
Meeting on the set of the 2005 film Mr & Mrs. Smith while Pitt was still married to Friends’ star Jennifer Aniston, Jolie and the Troy actor soon went public with their off-screen relationship. Throughout their time together, the pair welcomed three children by birth – Shiloh, Vivienne, and Knox, and three by adoption – Maddox, Zahara, (both whom Jolie had adopted prior meeting Pitt) and Pax.
The couple eventually tied the knot in 2014, but went their separate ways in 2016. While Jolie revealed she initiated the split for the for the “health of the family,” it was rumored that her reasons were partially due to Pitt dealing with a drinking problem.
“I am very saddened by this, but what matters most now is the well-being of our kids,” he told People at the time, according to Popsugar. “I kindly ask the press to give them the space they deserve during this challenging time.”
‘I love being a father’
Pitt has openly expressed his joy of becoming a dad. The Ad Astra star views fatherhood as his top priority.
“I feel like the richest man alive since I’ve become a father,” he told Psychologies magazine in 2014, according to E! Online. “Being a father has changed me on so many levels and made me more generous and alive. I see my children as an essential part of my life… I love being a father and all the responsibilities that entails.”
The Academy Award winner also acknowledged the overwhelming sense of protection he has over his children.
“I worry about them all the time,” Pitt said of his six kids. “That’s the emotional bond and responsibility that sweeps over you when you have a family to look after. I care about them more than I care about myself, which I think is the real definition of love. You see past yourself and become more generous and giving, and wanting only the best for your family.”
Brad Pitt chats with Oprah
In 2008, Pitt appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to promote his film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Still married to Jolie at the time, the actor discussed the recent birth of his twins and how some interesting aspects of fatherhood had toughened him up.
“First of all I’m hard as nails. I’m impervious to poo, snot, urine, vomit… you can’t get me,” Pitt told Winfrey. “In the beginning it was like ‘oh God – how do they vomit that much’… And now, it’s just like, ‘honey come here – do you see that? You need to chew your food… You’ve got to chew your food or you’ll make yourself sick.'”
Despite the typical bodily functions that parents are subjected to on a daily basis, Pitt revealed the profound significance his children brought into his life.
“It’s the greatest thing I’ve ever taken on. I can’t imagine life without it,” Pitt raved of parenting to the talk show icon. “It makes everything else perfunctory in a way but also more fun… Even the films, I can’t help but do a film thinking my kids will see that some day and that may mean something to them. So, it puts an extra importance and yet takes off the importance at the same time.”
