Brad Pitt gave some context to previous remarks he made about being on the “last leg” of his career.
In a new joint profile for GQ with his “Wolfs” co-star and Hollywood BFF George Clooney, the 60-year-old actor explained what he meant when he told the men’s magazine back in 2022 that he was in his “last trimester or semester” as a star.
“I meant that as seasons,” Pitt shared.
Referring to leaving his childhood in Springfield, Missouri, for Hollywood in the late ’80s, he said, “You know, there was moving out from the safety of the Ozarks. You embark on this thing and it’s all about discovery and it’s really exciting and interesting and painful and awful and all of it.”
“And then when you’re allowed into the big leagues, it becomes another game of responsibilities and things to answer to,” he continued. “But also opportunity and delight and working with people you really respect.”
“And then it’s this time now. It’s: What are these last years going to be? Because I see my parents are very…I see just what George was explaining. In your 80s, the body becomes more frail.”
“And yet I look at Frank Gehry,” he added, referring to the renowned architect. “He’s just the loveliest man. And he’s 95 and still making great art and he’s got a beautiful family. And I think that’s kind of the formula to stay creative and keep loving your life.”
Clooney chimed in to share that he considers them both “lucky.”
“We’re in a profession that doesn’t force you into retirement,” he said.
As for the possibility of the moment in their careers when the “phone stops ringing” — work drying up because of reaching a certain age — Clooney challenged that cliché.
“Okay, but there’s two ways of going about this, right?” the 63-year-old Oscar winner began.
“The phone stops ringing if your decision is that you want to continue to be the character that you were when you were 35, and you want a softer lens. But if you’re willing to, say, move down the call sheet a little bit and do interesting character work, then you can kind of…you have to make peace with the idea that you’re going to die!”
In Clooney’s eyes, it’s all about accepting what it means to get older as an actor.
“I will walk up to people and they’ll be like, ‘Oh, you’re older than I thought,’” he said. “And I’m like, ‘I’m 63, you dumb s–t!’ It’s just: That’s life. And so as long as you can make peace with the idea of change, then it’s okay.”
Clooney went on, “The hard part is, and I know a lot of actors who do this — and you [Pitt] do too — who don’t let that go and try desperately to hold onto it.”
Pitt and Clooney’s “Wolfs,” their latest on-screen endeavor together, follows a fixer hired to cover up a high-profile crime who soon finds his night spiraling out of control when he’s forced to work with an unexpected counterpart.
The movie releases on September 20.
