Brad Pitt has opened up about surviving his “darker days” and coping with “losses and pain” as he promotes his latest film, Heart of the Beast.
The actor, 62, said he relied on close friends and family during difficult periods in his life, speaking against the backdrop of his lengthy divorce from Angelina Jolie.
“When I think of the darker days, it was certainly my close relationships that I relied heavily on. Friends, dear close friends a handful of close family, and was very open about my struggle,” Pitt said.
In Heart of the Beast, Pitt plays James Belmont, a retired Special Forces officer whose plane crashes in the remote Alaskan wilderness. He and his retired combat dog, Odin, survive the crash and face harsh conditions as they wait to be rescued.
Pitt worked with survival experts while making the film, an experience that prompted him to reflect on the challenges he had faced away from the screen.
“And being able to be that free with people who love you and have your back, and that you love back, is everything. It’s everything,” he said.
He also drew a comparison between the lessons of survival and navigating difficult periods in everyday life.
“The survivalists would tell us it’s all about little wins. You’re going to suffer losses, you’re going to suffer pain, but it’s just getting to the next little win,” Pitt said.
“I thought that equated to life in that way, in the sense of when we are struggling and going through many challenges, just getting to that next little win, not thinking about the big picture, just that next little win.”
Pitt and Jolie separated in September 2016 after two years of marriage, but their divorce was not finalised until 2024 following an eight-year legal battle.
Jolie, 51, has since said she is ready to leave the United States and live “a bit nomadic” now that the couple’s youngest children, twins Vivienne and Knox, have turned 18.
All six of the former couple’s children are now adults. Maddox, Zahara, Shiloh and Vivienne have taken legal steps to change their surnames from Pitt to Jolie, while Knox and Pax have not filed a formal petition.
