Brad Pitt: Criminally Hot

Brad Pitt has done an impressive variety of movies since his breakout role in 1991’s “Thelma & Louise.” But for every media story about his films, there are even more stories about his sex-symbol status, life with lady love Angelina Jolie and their kids (three adopted and one biological) and the couple’s involvement in humanitarian causes. Pitt, 43, was recently at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival to promote his new movie, “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.” (For his portrayal of Jesse James, Pitt won the 2007 Venice Film Festival’s best actor award.) He talked about what it was like to play one of America’s most famous criminals and his own real-life role as a family man in the middle of intense public scrutiny.

Your movie is set in the 1800s, but is actually about celebrity culture. Did that attract you to the Jesse James character?

I do think [celebrity culture] is an aspect of it, certainly. Getting into the story I was surprised to see how much the tabloid portions of the media were alive and well at that time. They operated by sensationalism.

Did you see Jesse James as a vicious psychopath?

The film picks up at the last year of his life, and he was certainly coming from a place of great paranoia, most of it justified. And I would argue that his paranoia was responsible for a lot of his erratic actions.

As a young actor, did you ever imagine that your life would be under such a microscope?

You really don’t know what you’re getting into, because your focus is making movies and wanting to tell stories and being really good at it. And then this other thing [fame] comes along and it can be discombobulating.

How much do you long for anonymity, and what’s it like when you go back to your home state of Missouri?

A lot of my family is still in Missouri. I have to take the grandkids back or my folks would kill me. [Missouri] is a really gentle, sweet place to live. As far as fame, I know the deal and I understand the tradeoff. There are great perks to what we do. We get to travel and see the world and we manage it. The only time it becomes uncomfortable for me is when it’s a full-frontal assault on the kids.

Speaking of fame, what did you think when that woman lunged at you at the Venice Film Festival? That got a lot of media attention.

I hadn’t been jumped on like that in some time. I don’t want to change my life, but it points out how you can be vulnerable in these situations. There are a couple of people out there who are wacky, but I’m not changing anything [about my life].

How did you feel about winning the best actor award at the Venice Film Festival?

I was surprised and remain surprised. I didn’t expect it. We’ve been on a long road with this film, and it’s an honor to have the [award]. It’s a nice time for us. I try to play it down, but it’s really fun. I got a Golden Globe a decade ago. But [getting awards] is never the focus. It’s about how you personally feel at the end of the day and doing your best, and the quality of the film. But at the same time, we all have our jobs and we all want to be really good at it. And to have this kind of acknowledgement is a real honor.

Can you talk about Casey Affleck as your costar in this movie?

A lot of us have known Casey for a number of years, and to see him get this role, which is a complex role, was really rewarding. He made us proud.

Jesse James had such a Jekyll and Hyde personality. How far did you get into the character — did you take it with you off the set?

Not being able to put away a role has never been my affliction. I was very happy to get the role, but I had no trouble [stepping away from it off the set]. The aspect that appealed to me was that [Jesse James] could see the end coming, and I really relied on Andrew [Dominik, the film’s director] to keep the reins on that, and it paid off.

Jesse James always had his gun near him, so why do you think he allowed himself to be unarmed when he was shot and killed?

There are two stories about it: that he gave the gun to his assassin — the very gun that killed him days later — and that he took his gun belt off at what became the moment of the assassination. [One theory is] that he had full knowledge of what the Ford brothers were capable of and he was going to [kill them] at another time and was taunting them. It was a bad gamble, and a gamble that he lost. The other theory is that he was unhinged and weary of this life on the run and that it was actually a puppeteered suicide, unconscious or conscious. It remains ambiguous. I couldn’t pretend to know.

How did you prepare for this role?

The preparation is really the same whether it’s a comedy or something like this [movie]. It comes with research and study … it really starts to take shape in the first few weeks … what’s feeling right and what’s feeling wrong. I had a nice advantage of being from the same area [Missouri] as Jesse James. So the cadence of the people, I drew from that. I worked with horses and did the quick draw, and I was good to go.

Can you talk about the real-life Jesse James possessions you had while filming the movie, such as his Smith & Wesson gun and his ring?

These are things that that were of importance to me to make the film feel more authentic. It may be silly or superstitious, but to me, it made sense.

If your kids wanted to go into acting, what would you say to them?

It all remains to be seen, but I would definitely recommend maturity, post–18 years old, before you get into this business.

Now that you have kids, do you want to do more animated films?

I actually did one animated film with that in mind [2003’s “Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas”]. I think it’s more confusing to our kids [to see my voice coming from an animated character], so I’d rather keep the roles separate and not add any more confusion in their lives.

Do you and Angelina share and accept each other’s constructive criticism?

Yes. In fact, I rely on it. It’s the best sounding board I have. I value her opinion immensely, but it pisses me off sometimes … [laughs].

If you had the power to change something about yourself, what would it be?

I don’t spend any time thinking about that. I’d rather be about people accepting you for who you are.