A list of Brad Pitt’s favourite actors
As one of Hollywood’s most idolised actors, Brad Pitt has, for nearly four decades, contended with his status as a sex symbol. Of course, this is a title most of us could only dream of attaining. Still, when one’s such a devout movie fanatic, it can, as Pitt discovered, become a barrier of sorts: refined artists tend to avoid glossy magazine covers.
Pitt picked up on this trend in a 1996 interview with Tiger Beat when naming his favourite actor. “The greatest actors aren’t what you would call beautiful sex symbols,” he pointed out. “I’ll tell you who my favourite actress is: Dianne Wiest. And you wouldn’t call her a sex symbol. Dianne Wiest is, to me, the most beautiful woman on the screen.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, he revealed that his biggest influences tend to lie in the depths of Hollywood history. When asked what actors he’s inspired by, Pitt replied, “I know very few men to look up to. That’s why I appreciate the older films because they show a man standing up for his principles. Like [Robert] Redford. He portrayed the kind of man men wanted to be, and the kind of man women wanted men to be.”
Pitt’s old-fashioned taste can probably be traced back to his childhood obsession with classic westerns. Like most children of the 1960s, he grew up transfixed by the bright screen in his front room, escaping into the vast landscapes that defined the then-ubiquitous movie genre.
“I grew up in Oklahoma and Missouri, and I just loved film,” Pitt told Backstage in 2012. “My folks would take us to the drive-in on summer nights, and we’d sit on the hood of the car. I just had this profound love for storytelling. I think it’s just an amazing thing we get to do. We’re so complex, mysteries to ourselves; we’re difficult to each other. And then here’s this storytelling that reminds us we’re all the same. I consider it such a privilege.”
Although he studied journalism at the University of Missouri, Pitt had long fantasised about becoming an actor. Approaching graduation, he took the oft ill-advised step of dropping out to pursue his true passion. In 1985, following several commercial appearances, Pitt landed his first small role in the long-running soap opera Another World. This led to another major role in Dallas.
“I did a few weeks on Another World,” Pitt told Tiger Beat in an earlier interview, aged just 22. “I had to go to New York for that, and I had never been there. Then I got Dallas, and in between filming those, I did a Growing Pains episode. I did a Mountain Dew commercial—got to waterski in Florida. And I just got a McDonald’s commercial today! My mom is so proud!”
Later in that interview, Pitt was challenged to name his favourite actor. Finding it difficult to name just one, Pitt settled for five. “Jack Nicholson is up there,” he pondered. “I love Mickey Rourke—he blows my mind. I love Sean Penn, even with the bad press he gets. When he is on the screen, I admire him. I like Timothy Hutton, too. I have never really gotten into the classics, which I have been trying to learn about lately. Marlon Brando blows me away. The minute he came on the screen in Streetcar Named Desire, wooooo!”
Towards the end of the conversation, Pitt was asked where he saw himself in a decade. “In ten years, I’ll be 32,” he calculated. “I hope I am married with some Brad Jrs. I would like to be in a position like Kevin Costner. He’s on top and respected as an actor. I just want to be a respected actor. I want to make people feel things like how I feel when I go to the movies. I would like to have my own production company.”
Below, we’ve compiled a list of the actors Brad Pitt has named as favourites in past interviews.
Brad Pitt’s favourite actors
- Dianne Wiest
- Jack Nicholson
- Robert Redford
- Mickey Rourke
- Kevin Costner
- Sean Penn
- Timothy Hutton
- Marlon Brando
