Brad Pitt opens up about anger issues, says ‘I lose it at times, I’m human’

Three years after his separation from wife Angelina Jolie, actor Brad Pitt has said that he is still wrestling with blame. Pitt spoke to his Legends of the Fall co-star Anthony Hopkins for a chat in Interview magazine.

He said, "I'm realizing, as a real act of forgiveness for myself for all the choices that I've made that I'm not proud of, that I value those missteps, because they led to some wisdom, which led to something else. You can't have one without the other. I see it as something I'm just now getting my arms around at this time in my life. But I certainly don't feel like I can take credit for any of it."

Hopkins asked Pitt about his struggles with alcohol, which was reportedly one of the reasons he got into an alleged brawl with his son, Maddox, aboard a flight, which subsequently prompted Jolie to seek separation. He said, "I just saw (alcohol) as a disservice to myself, as an escape." According to the New York Times, Pitt spent a year and a half at Alcoholics Anonymous after his divorce from Jolie in 2017. He added, "So you're embracing all your mistakes. You're saying, 'Let's be our foibles, our embarrassment. There's beauty in that.'"

The actor continued, "I'm seeing that these days. I think we're living in a time where we're extremely judgmental and quick to treat people as disposable. We've always placed great importance on the mistake. But the next move, what you do after the mistake, is what really defines a person. We're all going to make mistakes. But what is that next step? We don't, as a culture, seem to stick around to see what that person's next step is. And that's the part I find so much more invigorating and interesting."

After the alleged dispute with Maddox aboard the plane, Pitt was investigated for child abuse, of which he was eventually cleared. He admitted to Hopkins that he is prone to anger. "But I lose it at times. I get sucked into something, and I can lose it. I take my hands off the wheel." He added, "I'm human." Maddox in a recent video posted online was approached by a man who asked him about his strained relationship with his father. When the man asked Maddox directly, "Is your relationship with him sort of over?" he replied, "Well, whatever happens, happens."

Pitt most recently appeared in the sci-fi drama Ad Astra. He also starred in Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood". Hopkins will next be seen in Netflix's The Two Popes.