Brad Pitt, whose real name is William Bradley Pitt, is an American actor and producer. He was born on December 18, 1963 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA.

Born into a Christian family, he spent his childhood with his brother Doug (1966) and sister Julie (1969) in Springfield, where he was an altar boy in a Baptist church. He attended Kickapoo High School.

He initially intended to study architecture and design, but did not complete his studies. He eventually opted to study journalism and advertising at the University of Missouri-Columbia, but once again dropped out before graduation. Soon, however, he decided to leave his hometown and try his luck in Hollywood.

A difficult start
With $300 in his pocket, he flew to Los Angeles in the hope of pursuing an acting career. He took on a series of odd jobs as a delivery driver and even as a waiter disguised as a chicken. As luck would have it, an agent spotted him and cast him in a commercial for Levis jeans. He slowly began to establish himself in the business, landing small roles in series such as 21 Jump Street and Dallas.

In 1987, he had a small role in the film Sens unique, but still had the satisfaction of filming with Kevin Costner. After an attempt to shoot in Yugoslavia - aborted because of the civil war - he landed a role in the horror film Cutting Glass.

Revelation and international breakthrough
Brad Pitt’s career took off in 1991 with a small role in Thelma and Louise. Brad Pitt only appeared on screen for a few minutes, but instantly became the fantasy of millions of women (and men). In 1992, actor-director Robert Redford offered him a role in his film A River Runs Through It. The following year, in 1993, young Brad took risks, playing a serial killer in the film Kalifornia and a junkie in the cult thriller True Romance. He followed this up with a number of successful films, establishing himself as the seducer made in the USA. He appeared several times alongside young actresses such as Juliette Lewis and Gwyneth Paltrow.

In 1994, he played the title character in Interview with the Vampire, alongside a 5-star cast including Tom Cruise, Antonio Banderas, Kirsten Dunst and Christian Slater. The success was immediate, especially on the other side of the Atlantic. It was the start of a huge international success story for the young actor!

But why stop there? Spurred on by his increasingly successful experiments, he teamed up with Morgan Freeman in the film Seven (1995), now considered one of the best films of the 1990s.

There’s no stopping America’s new playboy! In 1995, he co-starred with Bruce Willis in The Army of the Twelve Monkeys, in 1996 in Sleepers alongside Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman and Kevin Bacon, and in 1997 in Close Enemies, where he co-starred with Harrison Ford.

In 1998, he was banned from entering China because of his role in Seven Years in Tibet.

A breakthrough
In 1999, he confirmed his status as a Hollywood star by playing one of the two leads in Fight Club. To play Tyler Durden, he took boxing, taekwondo and grappling classes. He even made an appointment with a dentist to have bits of his teeth removed to fit his character. The film was controversial at the time of its release, but quickly gained a cult following. At the age of 36, Brad Pitt became one of the highest-paid actors in the world, earning almost $20 million per film.
The following year, he remained in the world of boxing, starring in the film Snatch with Jason Statham. In 2001, he reunited with Robert Redford in Spy Game, before landing a role in Ocean’s Eleven alongside George Clooney, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Andy García and Julia Roberts.

In 2004, he starred in the peplum Troy as the great warrior Achilles. The following year, he starred in Mr & Mrs Smith with Angelina Jolie.

This was followed by the two sequels to Ocean’s Eleven and other successful productions such as Babel (2006), Burn After Reading (2008) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. In 2009, he starred in Inglorious Basterds, opposite Diane Kruger.

In 2011, his role in The Strategist earned him another Best Actor Oscar and Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Dramatic Film. Two years later, he ventured into a new register: the post-apocalyptic. His gamble paid off, as World War Z became his biggest box-office success.

In 2013, he produced and starred in Twelve Years a Slave alongside Michael Fassbender. This was followed by Ridley Scott’s Cartel, Fury (2014), Vue sur mer (2015) and Allies (2016).

The year 2018, saw him make a cameo in the 2nd opus of Deadpool, carried by Ryan Reynolds, while the following year, he faced Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood. The same year, he starred in the space film Ad Astra with Tommy Lee-Jones and Donald Sutherland.