Brad Pitt: Hollywood heartthrob to talented character actor
Very few actors manage to climb so high that they become synonymous with Hollywood itself, and Brad Pitt is undoubtedly one of them. The star of countless iconic works such as Fight Club and Ocean’s Eleven, the American star has firmly established himself as one of the most renowned leading men in the global cinematic landscape. However, there has also been a noticeable shift in the trajectory of the latter half of his career.
Inspired by his passion for cinema, Pitt made the bold decision in his youth to move to Los Angeles so that he could try to pursue his dream of becoming an actor. Initially forced to work a number of odd jobs to survive, he eventually entered the industry through uncredited parts and appearances on television shows. However, everything changed after the release of Ridley Scott’s beloved 1991 road movie Thelma & Louise.
Almost overnight, Pitt’s performance transformed him into Hollywood’s next big “sex symbol” as audiences, critics, and studio executives realised the strength of his on-screen presence as well as the potential growth of his appeal. Major roles in movies like A River Runs Through It and Se7en soon followed, but Pitt’s character acting has remained a vital yet under-appreciated aspect of his long career as a Hollywood star.
While he was already turning heads for his character work in productions such as True Romance, his true talent as a character actor finally revealed itself in Terry Gilliam’s brilliant sci-fi gem 12 Monkeys. Pitt steals the show as Jeffrey Goines, a genuinely fascinating anti-corporate radical who is trapped in a mental hospital. Earning an Oscar nomination for ‘Best Supporting Actor’, he was far more effective in a limited space than some of his starring turns.
Pitt’s dominant performances in Fight Club and the Ocean’s Trilogy might have reinforced his leading man status, but he also continued to demonstrate his talent as a character actor in films that weren’t necessarily great. One of the best examples of this is the Coen brothers’ 2008 comedy Burn After Reading, where he conducted a parody of his own on-screen image by playing the role of an attractive yet dumb personal trainer who gets caught up in a massive conspiracy.
Following his collaboration with Quentin Tarantino on Inglourious Basterds, Pitt reached the arguable apotheosis of his character acting portfolio in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Featuring opposite Leonardo DiCaprio’s fading movie star as his stunt double Cliff Booth, Pitt serves as our guide to the absurdity of Los Angeles. Picking up a ‘Best Supporting Actor’ for his masterful performance, Tarantino’s 2019 feature marked a career highlight for the actor’s meteoric journey.
Although Pitt’s run as a character actor has always been an undercurrent, he has expressed an inclination towards such roles in recent years. This is, of course, influenced by his thoughts on a looming retirement. He told GQ: “I consider myself on my last leg, this last semester or trimester. What is this section gonna be? And how do I wanna design that… I’m one of those creatures that speaks through art. I just want to always make. If I’m not making, I’m dying in some way.”
Despite headlining projects like Bullet Train, the latest Brad Pitt role that was widely praised and discussed was his impressively unhinged outing as the endearingly flawed movie star Jack Conrad in Damien Chazelle’s Babylon. In addition to picking up major accolades like a Golden Globe nomination for ‘Best Supporting Actor’, his work in Chazelle’s sprawling love letter to cinema provided a glimpse of what the future looks like for Brad Pitt – Hollywood’s eminent character actor.
