Angelina Jolie once revealed Brad Pitt’s biggest fear
Brad Pitt, an iconic actor who is quite possibly the most famous and sought-after actor in Hollywood, has exhibited fearless characters on the silver screen time and time again. From traversing a zombie-ravaged world in World War Z to navigating the perilous Trojan War in Troy, there isn’t a challenge his characters haven’t faced head-on. For many of his characters, you could say that danger was their middle name. However, away from the bustle of film sets and the glamorous red carpet events, Pitt harbours a particular and, frankly, very understandable fear.
It’s easy to forget that an actor, regardless of their stardom, is like any other person – filled with hopes, dreams, crippling anxieties and paralysing fears. Perhaps they’re afraid of becoming obsolete and falling out of fashion, discarded after no longer being considered the flavour of the month. Or there’s the genuine worry that an obsessive fan may track them down, invade their personal space and make their families feel unsafe.
And then, of course, there’s just the general fear of hungry creatures with very sharp teeth. The idea that Pritt, known for so many calm and collected roles, would be so obsessed with dangerous animals is amusing and slightly surprising – but not entirely ridiculous.
Speaking in an interview with OK! Magazine, to promote her historical epic Unbroken, fellow actor and ex-wife Angelina Jolie spoke about how the family spent a lot of time near the Australian ocean during the production of the film. In an attempt to overcome her own fear of swimming, Jolie encouraged her children to start learning as early as possible, but she made it clear that Pitt simply didn’t want to know whether his children were in the Aussie waters or not.
The reason? A profound and overwhelming fear of sharks. Pitt, it seems, could barely stand the thought of his children being in the vast expanse of the ocean, let alone surfing. Angelina shed light on this phobia, mentioning, “My kids learned to surf, even though Daddy didn’t want to know when they were in the water – because he has a shark phobia.”
Jolie herself confessed her reservations about water, primarily driven by a fear of drowning. This led her to ensure that all their children learnt to swim early on. “I taught my kids to swim very early because I have a fear of drowning – I am paranoid about water. It has been a long time since I have swum in the ocean,” she admitted.
Obviously, on a deep and granular level, celebrities are the same as us. So this shark revelation shouldn’t be as surprising as it is. But there’s ultimately something very reassuring about knowing that, while he drives around LA in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood or parties in the roaring 1920s during Babylon, even the most famous man in Hollywood can share the same pure and simple fear of being eaten alive.
