Brad Pitt, whose full name is William Bradley Pitt, is an American actor. He grew up in Springfield, Missouri where he attended the University of Missouri from 1983 to 1987. He left just short of graduation to pursue acting in California.

One of his first big roles was that of rascal J.D. in Thelma & Louise (1991) alongside Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis. He next hit it big as Paul Maclean in A River Runs Through It (1992), as Louis in Interview with the Vampire (1994) along Tom Cruise and as Tristan Ludlow in Legends of the Fall (1994). Next he appeared as police detective Mills in Se7en (1995) followed by Jeffrey Goines in 12 Monkeys (1995). He won a Golden Globe for the role of Goines, and it also earned him an Oscar nomination.

Following Seven Years in Tibet (1997), The Devil’s Own (1997) and Meet Joe Black (1998) Pitt appeared in Fight Club (1999) as underground fighter Tyler Durden. Pitt married Jennifer Aniston in 2000, but the pair divorced in 2005. In 2001, he starred as Rusty Ryan in Ocean’s Eleven (2001), and he reprised that role for Ocean’s Twelve (2004) and Ocean’s Thirteen (2007). In 2005, he starred in Mr. & Mrs. Smith alongside Angelina Jolie, with whom he struck up a romance. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) earned him another Oscar nomination.

2009 brough about Pitt’s starring role in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds, and after voicing the superhero Metro Man in Megamind (2010), he starred in Tree of Life (2011). His next Oscar nomination was for the role of real-life Oakland Athletics manager Billy Beane in Money Ball (2011). He had supporting roles in 12 Years a Slave (2013) and The Counselor (2013), and he portrayed an investment banker with morals in The Big Short (2015).

Pitt collaborated again with director Quentin Tarantino in Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood (2019), for which he earned an Oscar and a Colden Globe. More recent films include Ad Astra (2019), The Lost City (2022), Babylon (2022) alongside Margot Robbie and Wolfs for Apple, in which he starred alongside George Clooney. Pitt’s latest blockbuster film is F1, directed by Joseph Kosinski, in which he stars as underdog racecar driver Sonny Hayes.

Pitt and Angelina Jolie married in 2014, but the actress filed for divorce in 2016, and their split was finalized in 2024 after an eight-year legal dispute. The couple, who were known as “Brangelina,” share six children — three of whom are biological: Shiloh, Knox and Vivienne and three of whom are adopted: Maddox, Pax and Zahara. The actor also founded his production company, Plan B, with Jennifer Aniston in 2001, but following their divorce, he remains the sole owner as cofounder Brad Grey also left to become CEO of Paramount.