Brad Pitt fans will have three more years to watch the actor in new films, as the 47-year-old recently announced that he will be quitting the job when he turns 50.
Three years, he told Australia's 60 Minutes when asked how much longer he'd like to be in the business for.
And then what?
Hell if I know. Hell if I know. I am really enjoying the producing side and development of stories and putting those pieces together. And getting stories to the plate that might have had a tougher time otherwise, so . . . you know, I have gotten away with a few things in writing and I have been pissed off about a few things, Pitt said.
Born William Bradley Pitt on Dec. 18, 1963, the Oklahoma native struggled with a few uncredited film roles in the late '80s before landing short gigs on the TV shows Growing Pains and Dallas.
Then came the films Happy Together, Cutting Class, Thelma & Louise, Johnny Suede and Cool World.
In 1992, Robert Redford hired Pitt to play Paul Maclean in the period piece A River Runs Through It, earning Pitt much praise for his work.
From Interview with the Vampire to Seven Years in Tibet, to Fight Club and Ocean's Eleven, Pitt has continued to diversify his roles on the big screen. In 1995, he won a Golden Globe award for his role as mental patient Jeffrey Goines in Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys.
Over the years, Pitt's personal relationships have received as much attention as his films. Before the birth of Brangelina, Pitt dated Juliette Lewis, Gwyneth Paltrow and was married to Jennifer Aniston for five years.
Now, Pitt and longtime partner Angelina Jolie are parents to six children - Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox and Vivienne.
Thanks to his films The Tree of Life and Moneyball, Pitt has been receiving Oscar buzz this year for his roles as Mr. O'Brien and Billy Beane, respectively. On Nov. 18, Pitt's voice will appear in Happy Feet Two, the highly-anticipated sequel to the 2006 animated film.
2012 is lined up with the crime drama Cogan's Trade, based on the 1974 novel by George V. Higgins, and the post-apocalyptic horror film World War Z, based on the Max Brooks novel.
Pitt turns 48 years old on Dec. 18.
Here is a look at Brad Pitt's 10 best film roles to date.
Ah, J.D. The young hitchhiker cowboy Thelma and Louise pickup from the road. Pitt quickly rose to sex symbol status following his small role (and famous sex scene) in the Ridley Scott classic. MGM“So you want me to tell you the story of my life,” Pitt says as Louis de Pointe du Lac, a vampire made by Lestat de Lioncourt (Tom Cruise). The film received much praise in the awards world, and grossed more than $223 million at the box office worldwide.Warner Bros.Pitt graduated from cowboy hunk (J.D.) to serious actor, thanks to his role as Paul Maclean in Robert Redford’s period picture, based on the novella of the same name. Columbia PicturesDirector Steven Soderbergh was blessed with an all-star cast that included George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Juia Roberts and Brad Pitt for the remake of the 1960 Rat Pack classic. Pitt’s role as Rusty Ryan would continue in the film’s sequels, “Oceans Twelve” (2004) and “Ocean’s Thirteen” (2007). Cue the Debussy piano tune and the Bellagio fountain in Las Vegas. Village Roadshow PicturesPlaying mental patient Jeffrey Goines earned Pitt his first (and to date, only) Golden Globe award for best supporting actor. The Terry Gilliam sci-fi picture grossed more than $168 million at the box office and asked viewers to question the blurry line between past and present. Universal PicturesDid anyone understand Pitt’s accent as the Irish Traveler (gypsy) Mickey O’Neil? Screen GemsWith the help of CGI and the imagination of director David Fincher (and a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald), Pitt warmed the hearts of millions as he aged backwards playing Benjamin Button. The role earned Pitt an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor that year (he lost to Sean Penn in “Milk”).Warner Bros.The most recent film in this list is this year’s “Moneyball,” based on the Michael Lewis’ 2003 book of the same name about the 2002 Oakland A’s and their general manager Billy Beane. Pitt has been receiving Oscar buzz for his convincing and powerful portrayal of Beane, who is still alive today.Columbia PicturesIn true Quentin Tarantino fashion, this war film was packed with a star-studded cast (Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger), plenty of blood splats and even brief moments of comedy. Pitt took on the role of First Lieutenant Aldo Raine, who leads a group of Jewish Allied soldiers on a mission to destroy Nazi Germany. The Weinstein CompanyPitt and Ed Norton made fighting and soap making look cool (and inspired real-life Fight Clubs around the world), thanks to this big screen adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s 1996 bestselling novel of the same name. Pitt (and his rock hard abs) played Tyler Durden, the soap salesman responsible for all things Fight Club related. Does anyone remember the first rule of Fight Club?20th Century Fox
