Brad Pitt Sainted for Acknowledging Suicidal Actor at 'Moneyball' Screening

A distraught struggling actor opened up to Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill during the Q&A session of a special Moneyball screening in Los Angeles this week -- admitting before a crowd of hundreds that he had considered taking his own life that very day.

The thirtysomething actor said that he had been experiencing suicidal thoughts while in his car before the screening, but that watching Moneyball had given him a renewed sense of hope. The movie is based on the true story of Billy Beane, the down-and-out Oakland A's manager who put together a winning team on a shoestring budget.

[Brad] said, 'Look, man, life is up and down, it's a vicious cycle, but you have to go through it and deal with that,' an observer who attended told Us Weekly.

(A bit harsh, perhaps? Not according to most headlines on the subject, which make it sound as though Pitt threw himself in front of a moving train to save the man's life.)

You can be down, but then you come back up again, and every failure can lead to success, Brad reportedly told the man later. (Much better!)

It was a really awkward moment, the observor told Us Weekly. Brad handled the situation really well in front of several hundred people -- it was a difficult moment that shocked everyone.

The 47-year old Oscar shoe-in even had an actual conversation with the man as he was leaving the screening. Imagine!

Seriously, though: Suicide is no joke, and if Pitt had anything to do with raising this guy's spirits, that's a good thing.

Still, we hope he gets treatment from trained professionals.