(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Brad Pitt spent "a decade hiding" until he learnt to deal with his celebrity status.
The Hollywood hunk is one of the most famous men on the planet, and has been in high-profile relationships with actresses including Jennifer Aniston and Gwyneth Paltrow. Now he is happily settled with Angelina Jolie and the couple raise six children together.
Brad, 47, admits it has taken some time for him to cope with living in the public spotlight, but he and Angelina rely on each other for support.
"Sure I do! He gets to just make things," he replied when asked if he envies director Terrence Malick's privacy. "It took me a good decade of hiding in my house and not going outside to even, like, get my arms around this idea of celebrity, where suddenly people are looking for you to pick your nose or get a shot of you kissing some woman. It's a very discombobulating thing. But Angie and I have got it down pretty well. We have to hide behind some walls, but we're good."
Brad's latest big screen outing is in The Tree of Life, which was directed by Terrence. The movie is set in 1950s Texas and sees Brad play a conflicted, authoritarian father. Religion, science and family relationships are all examined in this film, which won the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes International Film Festival this year. Brad found it easy to identify with the script, as he was raised in a similarly religious small town.
"I grew up in the f**king buckle of the Bible Belt!" he added to British newspaper The Guardian. "This idea of an all-powerful, watching being that's controlling our moves and giving us a chance to say he's the greatest so we get into some eternal heaven that just doesn't work for me, man. I got a real problem with it. I see the value of religion and what it offers to people as a cushion and I don't want to step on that. On the other hand, I've seen where I grew up how it becomes separatist.
"I'm a guy who fights the idea of heaven but what I do respect is that there is a greater power than anything we understand, and for me the film is about that. Just the fact that there is an unknown, and something greater, can bring a feeling of peace. That's enough for me."
Brad enjoyed taking on the character of Mr. O'Brien a role originally intended for the late Heath Ledger despite the heavy-hitting storylines involved.
In the movie, Mr. O'Brien is often violent towards his sons and haunted by feelings of failure but Brad had no problem leaving the character behind once the cameras stopped rolling.
"You hear stories of intense actors who can't shed their character and who don't know who they are for a week or two after. I'm not that guy, man," he smiled. "My happiest moment is the day they call wrap and I'm free. I'm not looking back." (C) Cover Media