There aren't many men in the world who wouldn't love to be Brad Pitt. The actor has led somewhat of a charmed life since becoming a movie star. He was with Friends beauty Jennifer Aniston for years before getting together with Angelina Jolie. He's a perennial threat to win the Sexiest Man Alive award.To top all this off, Pitt's a selfless humanitarian who's planning on running for the Mayor of New Orleans - where he and Jolie moved their family to be closer to Katrina victims. Add to that the fact that he's paid in excess of 20 million dollars to shoot a film and you have the makings of a dream life.
But Brad wasn't always Brad. Born William Bradley Pitt on December 18, 1963 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, Brad and his family soon moved to Springfield, Missouri where the child was raised as a Southern Baptist. From a young age, Pitt displayed a flair for the spotlight.
During high school, he was always participating in musicals and debates, and after enrolling at the University of Missouri in 1992, Brad was a frequent actor in Sigma Chi stage shows. Two weeks before receiving his degree in journalism, Pitt headed to Los Angeles to take acting lessons. Like so many before him, the lure of fame was just too strong.
Brad was the proverbial starving artist, working various jobs as a chauffeur, a delivery man, and even donning the El Pollo Loco chicken suit in order to pay for his acting classes.
Eventually, Pitt landed two minor and uncredited roles in Less Than Zero and No Way Out, No Man's Land. In 1987 and 88, he made a guest spot on the hit ABC show Growing Pains and appeared in the primetime soap Dallas. He rounded out the year with a small guest spot on the Fox drama 21 Jump Street, starring a budding actor named Johnny Depp.
In 1989, Pitt was actually featured in a horrifically bad B-movie titled Cutting Class, and was given a supporting role in the comedy Happy Together. These various acting roles weren't doing anything for Pitt's career. Although he was no longer dressing up as a mascot, “extra” money doesn't pay LA bills. Pitt's legitimate shot wouldn't come until 1991's Thelma and Louise, starring Geena Davis. This is the role that first introduced Brad into the world as a sex symbol.
For the next three years, Brad had mediocre roles in various pictures, but it was his critically acclaimed performance alongside Tom Cruise in Interview with A Vampire that really jumpstarted his career. Fans weren't overly keen on Brad's performance in the vampire flick, but producers took notice. That same year, 1994, Pitt starred with Anthony Hopkins and Aidan Quinn in Legends of the Fall. Pitt finally started receiving some recognition.
However, it was his role with Morgan Freeman and Gwyneth Paltrow in Seven that made him a movie star. Since then, he has gone on to star in hit movies like Sleepers, The Devil's Own, Meet Joe Black, Fight Club, Snatch, and the Oceans franchise.
Pitt has earned two Oscar nominations and has won a Golden Globe, but it's his sex appeal and not his acting chops that keep him on the big screen.
