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Brad Pitt joins Armchair Expert to discuss his acting career, his new movie F1, his experiences in recovery, and his thoughts on masculinity. He shares behind-the-scenes stories from films like Fight Club and Seven, and opens up about the challenges and rewards of fame.
Published June 23, 2025
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Brad Pitt
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Interviewer: Welcome, welcome, welcome to Armchair Expert. I'm Dan Shepard and I'm joined by Mrs. Mouse, the mightiest of the mis-s.
Interviewee: I'm here. I'm mighty. Wow.
Interviewer: Yeah, I have to imagine many people have guessed about this episode because we've obviously been so excited for a while now.
Interviewee: We have.
Interviewer: Knowing and so excited that I was like, even though he said yes, I just feel like there'll be something will happen.
Interviewee: I know. I'm still scared.
Interviewer: Yeah, I am too.
Interviewer: Until it's been out for like even two weeks, maybe.
Interviewer: But yeah, the number one from when I sat down, the notion of interviewing this person was absolutely implausible.
Interviewee: Hilarious.
Interviewer: It was a joke. It was a funny joke.
Interviewee: Yeah.
Interviewer: But then Monty got Matt Damon and that maybe cracked a little ray of hope.
Interviewee: Oh, yeah.
Interviewer: Dreams do come true.
Interviewee: Dreams come true.
Interviewer: Without further ado, my dream boyfriend, Brad Pitt, an Academy Award winning actor, a producer, Fight Club 7.
Interviewer: I feel embarrassed even listing these.
Interviewer: Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Glorious Bastards.
Interviewer: And the new most kick-ass movie of the summer.
Interviewer: I'm going to declare it as the most kick-ass movie of the whole summer and maybe the decade.
Interviewer: F1, hair-raising, fucking a point of view you've never gotten.
Interviewer: This is as close as you can get to what it feels like to be in a race car.
Interviewee: Oh.
Interviewer: It's incredible.
Interviewer: And he's fucking perfect.
Interviewee: He's perfect.
Interviewer: God, we love him.
Interviewee: We really do.
Interviewee: And he, I mean, as you'll hear, he's just such a delight.
Interviewee: So kind.
Interviewee: Gave us so much of his time.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Interviewer: Charmed the fuck out of us, really.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Interviewer: Well, get your spare.
Interviewee: Nope. Don't say it.
Interviewer: Please enjoy Brad Pitt.
Interviewee: He's an old chair expert.
Interviewee: He's an old chair expert.
Interviewee: Spare.
Interviewee: Hi.
Interviewee: Monica, how are you?
Interviewee: Monica, it's so nice to meet you.
Interviewee: Me too.
Interviewee: Sorry, I got ice cream.
Interviewee: No, you're good.
Interviewee: You're good.
Interviewee: What'd you get?
Interviewee: I tried this new thing here. It's a blueberry latte.
Interviewee: I'll take a sip. I want to absolutely take a sip.
Interviewer: Thank you for offering.
Interviewer: Oh, yes.
Interviewee: Is it nice?
Interviewer: Well, I love, blueberry's my favorite fake flavor.
Interviewer: You want in there?
Interviewer: You gotta take a little rip.
Interviewee: Not really, but. No, I will. I will.
Interviewer: I've put two nicotine products next to you in case you are wanting.
Interviewee: No, I'm long. I'm done.
Interviewer: You're done?
Interviewee: Yeah. For how long? Good for you. A couple years now? Zero nicotine. None.
Interviewee: Why? I think 30 years of smoking. I've just figured. I've had enough. I've had enough.
Interviewer: Good for you. I've had enough.
Interviewee: But nicotine is really good for your brain.
Interviewee: Well. Is it?
Interviewee: That's what he likes to say.
Interviewee: Listen, I got it in reserves. You don't need any pick-me-ups. Now, is there any problem with, like, advertisement?
Interviewee: No. No, no, no. You can do whatever you want.
Interviewee: We can advertise for Topo Chico's sponsors.
Interviewer: Those are just what we thought you might like.
Interviewee: We threw a lot of beverages at you.
Interviewer: But we're going to ask you to hold a Filet-O-Fish at one point and say, God damn, this is good.
Interviewer: You don't have to say McDonald's.
Interviewer: I have no idea what this means, but I'm doing a fucking ad for God's.
Interviewee: You are looking. Yeah. Supporting. Is that? Sure. Wow. Is that a waffle? What is that? What do we call that? Yes. Yeah, it looks fucking great.
Interviewee: The blue's really nice.
Interviewer: Okay, not only is this God's true cashmere, I'm pretty sure this is the one you gifted me.
Interviewer: I've got a few now, and I was like, I think that's the one he sent.
Interviewee: You know what I think he's doing? I think he's kind of, like, pining for another.
Interviewer: I know. Oh, there's no question. I think he's, like, trolling a little bit.
Interviewee: I mean, I'm not going to rule out that I don't want one myself. Monty has some. She has some true God's true. I have some shorts. Shorts are fun. They're so cute. The green and white. Would you go short hoodie? I just went. Would you do a hoodie? Even with long hair? Because sometimes women with long hair, they don't like the hoodie. Yeah, but I keep my hair up a lot. You'd cut your hair off, right, for a free hoodie? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, great, great. For God's true? Or a blanket? You guys do blankets? Oh, yeah, we do cushy blankets. That sounds nice.
Interviewee: How did we come up with the name God's true cashmere?
Interviewee: My dear friend, who is originally a holistic nurse, that I met around the time we met. Or really met. In your age of discovery? In my age of discovery. And I came in one day, and she said, I had a dream about you. You said, I want more green in my life. And I literally said that to someone the day before. Like, just out of whim, I want more green in my life.
Interviewee: That is spooky.
Interviewee: And so she made me a green shirt. This. Super soft. Super cash. So she was a holistic nurse who also made this. Yes. Her name is Sadheti, which means, it means God's truth. Oh. And she goes, what do you think of this? Yeah, we started making them, and we really liked them. Then we started making them for our friends, and we thought, all right, let's make a little side hustle and have some fun with it. It's been really, a lot of fun, a lot of fun. So fun. But yeah, so she said, what do you think of God's true cashmere? I went, it's bold. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's memorable. It sticks out. Yes. Can't find a reason not to. Might get a certain segment of the country mad, but hey, let's roll with it. Well, I mean, everyone's got their own definition, right? They sure do. Well, everyone thinks it's you, that you're God, and it's your true cashmere. Oh, that would be the worst. What? That would be the very worst. I think people might think that. I thought it. No! In a good way, in a good, oh no, I've really stepped in it already. I got to go. Yeah, Pitt, he's known for his ego. No, you are not. Massive. No, you are not. Okay, so on that topic.
Interviewee: I like that there's no entry to this thing. No, we can slide in. Just slide in and go. Don't you like that?
Interviewer: Because don't you think when you're acting, like, action is almost, and there have been famous directors who don't say action, right?
Interviewee: I asked on the last one not to. Oh, you did? Yeah. Okay, yeah, because all of a sudden it's like, be great now. Yes. Jarring. As opposed to, like, we're talking, we're hanging.
Interviewer: Given the way you and I met, does it make you nervous? Actually, he means. Of course. Oh, he wishes. That's hopefully where it is.
Interviewee: You know, I've never had a gay experience. I kind of missed that window. But if I did, yeah, it wouldn't be you.
Interviewee: I was like, wow, he's going to say it.
Interviewee: I was like, Dax is going to die tonight.
Interviewer: Maybe 14th or 15th. I don't want to brag, but you're going to need to build up to me.
Interviewee: Oh, boy. I do recommend you start with some starters.
Interviewer: Okay, back to the real thing. Given the context in which we met, which is, like, really heightened honesty and vulnerability. Yep. Does it make you nervous to have to talk with me in public?
Interviewee: No, not at all. Okay, great. Yeah, quite at ease.
Interviewee: Oh, okay, great. We can say men's group, right?
Interviewee: I say AA.
Interviewee: You're not supposed to, but I say it. I said that. But I went on, like, some New York Times interview, and what an amazing thing this experience was for me. It was a men's group. Yeah. It was AA. It was when I first was getting sober. And I just thought it was just incredible men sharing, you know, their experiences, their foibles, their missteps, their wants, their aches, and just a lot of humor with it. And I thought it was a really special experience. Coming from the Ozarks, we were like, everything's great. Yeah. And so I do this interview, and I say this, and I got admonished by someone of the higher-ups saying, Oh, you did? It's anonymous. And went, but, no. How does that help anyone, though? Not for you. That's what I said.
Interviewee: Yeah.
Interviewer: Here's the truth. There was a period of time where, if you were known to be an alcoholic, you would be run out of your neighborhood. You couldn't find employment. There was a great reason for it. But even deeper than that is they didn't want alcoholics just showing up at their doorstep because no one had a fucking solution, and you would be kind of inviting just the town drunks to show up. So a lot of reasons. My excuse, because I say it openly, and I've gotten some criticism, is like, I've had a couple dozen, maybe more people come up to me in the last seven years and go like, Hey, man, I'm the best man at my brother's wedding, and my family wouldn't talk to me, and I found out about AA from you. And I'm like, I'll take that dude over 1,000 fucking haters.
Interviewee: Two of those as well.
Interviewee: But Dax, you know, you go around in a circle, it's kind of spiral because it's a really crowded room. Yeah. And Dax would always, was near the end, usually near the end, because he's been there a while. He's kind of like a- Elder statesman. Thank you. And would always have this, like, I really respected it. Was really open, honest, was a way to kind of take whatever the theme kind of seemed to go in the evening and then put it in the funniest, funniest kind of package. And it meant a lot to me. Really did. That's really nice. I say that straight.
Interviewee: Good job, Dax.
Interviewee: Yeah, that was a really- Haven't talked to him since.
Interviewee: Yeah. Understandably. I'm so impactful that I have not seen him since.
Interviewee: You use him for what he's worth, and then you walk away. That's what we do. Send him a couple of the free products every now and then. Can we tell you about our date? Yeah. Okay. He did, but we keep you on the DL a little bit on this show. Yeah.
Interviewer: And this is really kind of this fun theme that I, and I often tell people this, and I wonder if you can relate to this. Surely you've worked with people where you're holding two things simultaneously about them. Like, if you were to have worked with Paul Newman, I imagine you have Paul Newman. Yeah. And then you would have a man you know. Yep. Yeah. And I think it's okay to keep both those things alive. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's fair. Yeah. I have a handful of friends where it's like, Robert Dunney Jr. I saw him as a kid in Weird Science, and him dumping the fucking malt off the top of the mall. He's not even a main player in that movie. Yeah. We had a rad cardigan on. And like a zoot suit or something. Yeah. He was wild. And I'm like, that dude's awesome. I love that dude. Followed him throughout the years. Ultimately became friends with him. And it's like, yeah, I have like Robert, the dude I know. And then there's the guy I just was in love with from Chaplin and all these things. But they don't really, I mean.
Interviewee: They don't intersect, right? They don't. Yeah. They don't intertwine that way.
Interviewer: Do you have anyone like that?
Interviewee: Well, all these. You said it. Yeah. I remember meeting Newman. Okay. You know. Working with Redford. Working with Hackman. Yeah. Yeah, sure. Yeah. Absolutely. You know who I have that with? Sean Penn. Oh, yeah. There you go. He'd be my one, I think. Number One. That's a good one. 89. Sean Penn. Oh, fuck. He'd be number one. Oh, my God.
Interviewer: How about Racing with the Moon? How about At Close Range? Oh, my God. He was funny.
Interviewee: You know this one? I haven't seen that one. Rush home. Okay, I will. Put this one on. He's in it with his brother. Christopher Walken. Yep, Chris. Wow. And he got fucking huge for it. Wow. Yeah. He's a super star. Remember when you were younger? Like, oh, shit. Sean Penn's fucking huge. Yeah, he's badass. Yeah, he's a bad motherfucker. Super stylized, the way it's shot. Jamie Foley directed it. But it's also, it is, I mean, I think younger actors should study it because so much is said without saying it. And it's such a streamlined script, and everything is undercurrent.
Interviewer: Yeah. The movie's pretty quiet. It's great. Okay, we share another one while we're on this road. Mickey Rourke. We do. Whoa. Yeah. Yeah.
Interviewee: Love that, Mickey Rourke. Where does it start for you? In fact, because, you know, we started, like, I don't know, I started really looking at acting. It was late 80s. Uh-huh. And so, at that point, Mickey Rourke. Wow. Yeah, on fire. He had kind of this Bogart roughness to him. Super tough, but also this really vulnerable, really vulnerable, like, tough guy. Yeah. He could walk both lines. He was doing something that was so extraordinary. So, you watch Angel Heart. Angel Heart, like. Oh. And Lisa Bonet in Angel Heart. That's incredible. Oh.
Interviewee: Oh, my. That's your number one. I was, when I was a kid, I'm like, I'm naming my daughter if I have one epiphany. Lisa Bonet.
Interviewee: Oh, epiphany, yes. Lisa Bonet. First, her first name is Lisa Bonet.
Interviewee: One more, Lisa Bonet.
Interviewee: He's got great vulnerability. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's the deal. To be able to walk with that kind of strength and toughness and then. And he was sexy. Come on. Dudes. So sexy. Dudes weren't really sexy then. Pope of Greenwich Village. Oh. What a sated movie. So 80s. He still is timeless. He is so badass. I said, I'm the Pope. Oh. Oh, wow. Remember this? They took my fingers, Charlie. Yeah, that's great. Took my fucking thumb, Charlie. Chalutes. Chalutes. Okay. Go. Back to that situation. Which? Meeting you in that context. You're at this meeting. We're going to get into the fact that a bazillion famous people have come to this meeting and everyone's used to it. And then you came in, it was pretty overwhelming. And I got a real sense of what your experience is in this way that I couldn't really fathom, but you have the power of when you are in a place, everyone can't stop thinking about you. And I was like, God, he has to be aware of that. What does that feel like? That's a lot to deal with. How is he ever going to open up and be honest in this space? And then it dissipates a bit. People get a little more comfortable. And then you were. You were so fucking honest. And I was like, he must have a stubbornness like I have, which is like, yeah, all this is going on, but I refuse to let it, not let me be a person.
Interviewee: Oh, it's interesting. Never thought about it that way. You know, I was in pretty, I was pretty much on my back. Yeah. You know, on my knees. And I was really open to, I was trying anything and everyone, anything anyone threw at me. It was a particular difficult time. I need rebooting. I needed to wake the fuck up in some areas and, and it meant, it just meant a lot to me. So yeah, the first is, oh my God, it's coming around, you know, it's coming around, it's getting closer. It's going to be yours. But everyone was so open. It's contagious, right? It is. It gives you permission in a way to go, okay, I'm going to step out on this edge and see what happens. And then I really, you know, I just really grew to love it.
Interviewer: When another dude shares so honestly and open about his struggles and his defects, and it gets to you, don't you feel, you feel like you owe him that honesty in return?
Interviewee: And it was also, but it was also, you know, anything could, anything could go. Because some guys would be like, you know what? Didn't have such a bad week. Sure. And this worked. And this was, and talk about their wins, you know? So it's like, I made my bed and I had a great thing. Yeah. Little failures and little successes. And yeah. And you know what? I woke up and I'm going to do it again tomorrow. So that too. And then there's always, what do you think? Is there about 30 guys in there roughly? Yeah, on a big. Different guys come in and come out. Especially when you fucking showed up. People are knocking at the door. Hardly. But then there's always one guy, there's always one guy though, where he just loves to hear himself talk and he just go. Yeah, that's tough. And you get, wait till you get through the next one. It's actually not tough. It's pretty funny. There's, there's.
Interviewee: Well, Dax had in a fight with someone over at once, didn't he?
Interviewer: I did get in a fight in that room, yeah.
Interviewer: Oh, really? I did. I missed that one. I missed that week. We told the story on the podcast, so I don't mind saying it out loud again, but the actor Eric Dane, who I now fucking love. Yeah. I have such a sweetness for him now. Yeah, we all went up, had a mini, mini group over there. Oh, yeah, yeah. Right, right, right. He was hosting. At Eric's. But when we first were around each other, it was not good. And then he threatened a dude in the meeting. Wow. And I said, let's go, motherfuckers. I saw no things get. In the middle of the meeting, he goes, if you hit that timer again, I'm going to fucking throw you in that candle. That was right at the time. And I go, that's it, motherfucker. Let's go. Stand up. Let's go outside. He stands up. We go outside. And I'm going to beat the fuck out of him in Tom's driveway. At an AA meeting. At an AA meeting. We're coming for healing and understanding. And then, but what's great is we're friends now and we told that story on the podcast. Yeah, it was fun. And it's like quite a hilarious beginning for us because now I love him. But anyways, I set all that up just to say is I felt very compassionate to what you go through. And I didn't, I never sweated you. I wasn't like coming up to you. Hey man, I'm Dax. Nice to meet you. Blah, blah, blah. So I didn't really interact a ton with you. We'd met before that. We'll say that to the end. I think. Okay. I'll tell you.
Interviewee: Listen, I know. Listen, it didn't make, leave a mark, but I'm pretty sure we did. Okay.
Interviewer: Listen.
Interviewer: So I don't, I didn't sweat you much. And, and you, and I do want everyone in the world to know, like you're insanely gracious. You learned everyone's name. You engage with people. I almost thought you were particularly good at assessing who was kind of low status. And you seem to really be kind to those people. There was a thing going and I really respected it. It was really moving. I mean, some, some of these men were so moving. And then you come up to me at the end and you go, hey, are you going to this track day next week? And I go, yeah, I am. And then I go, oh, right. We both know Duffy. Yep. This must be how you know I'm going to that track day. And then you go. Track day, motos. Vehicles. Motorcycles on the track. Two wheels. I know about vehicles. Two wheels. She's been on some vehicles. I've been on a couple. And you go, hey, you want to ride up on a helicopter with me? And I go, absolutely. Where's this going?
Interviewee: Who's going to say no to that? Of course I will. What should I wear? Bachelor style day.
Interviewer: Yes.
Interviewer: So, so you invited me and I was like, oh, this is incredible. I wasn't even sure if he knew I was in this room. And then we went on this glorious helicopter ride. For me, it was very romantic. Chatting the whole way.
Interviewee: Or were you like, you know, giving a tour?
Interviewee: Just slowly. No, it's just like a three-hour drive up there and something like that. Well, it's a beat down. Yeah. Yeah. So to get up early and, you know. Go do the thing. We're talking about the time. It was just one of those rock and roll things you get to do every now and then. Yeah. You said you want to go on. I was like, yeah, I'm not sure how I'm going to get my bike there. I'm saying yes whether I'm a bike or not. I'll ride someone else's. Yeah. Let it be known. Dax is rapid. He's quick. He's fast. The record also reflects Brad's very fast too. Okay. No, not that much on two wheels. I wasn't as quick as these guys or Channing. Well, he's been doing it a long time. Channing was annoyingly good really quick. Really good. Really good. And I'm like, yeah, he's one of these athletes that can kind of do every single. Like Lewis. We had Toto on him. And Toto was like, you know, Lewis is one of these guys that drives you crazy. He can do everything. Just he tries it and he's immediately fast. You know. You just kind of got to do like a subdue Schwarzenegger. It is. It's almost the same. And it's bang on. Yeah. Like if Schwarzenegger went to a four-year college.
Interviewee: I have a quick question about the meeting before we leave the meeting. When you first get there, are you thinking, like, when it's going around, are you thinking, are people going to talk about me specifically? Like, is there any nerves going into a meeting when you have, you do have to be very vulnerable and you know, like people there might have an extra interest in my story?
Interviewee: So I've heard of stories where like Philip Seymour Hoffman went to one and someone videoed it and put it out. But I've been assured by another friend this was a safe place. Two, I'm like, I am, I mean, I am a stubborn fuck, but I am also, when I've stepped in shit, I'm pretty good at taking responsibility for it and owning up to it. Yeah. And, and now it's a quest to, you know, what do I do with this? What, you know, how, how, how can I write this and, and, and make sure it doesn't happen again or I just. Be better. Yeah. Be better. Be better. Yeah. Step up. And, um, so I was really open to that and I was really open to see what these guys were doing who had their thing and been there for a while. Sure. I was a bit, um, a bit shy. I'm a, I'm, I can generally be a bit shy in any kind of situation first, but I don't know. I just remember getting my arms around it pretty quickly and really, really, really, yeah. It became a thing for me. It was really like something I'd look forward to. Yeah. Yeah.
Interviewer: Me too. That was a very kind of special.
Interviewee: Yeah. Yeah. But it's hard even in like therapy, even me in therapy who no one cares, but I'm like, Should I tell my therapist? Could care less. But I'm like, should I tell her everything? What if she goes, what if she tells somebody something? There's just like, there's always that.
Interviewee: Oh, no. I didn't know when I jumped into therapy then I was just a blah, blah, blah. And I did this and I did that and da, da, da. And I did that.
Interviewee: Good for you. That's good. Trusting. Stupid. Well, desperate's a good reason.
Interviewer: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You don't come into AA because everything's working out fantastic. No, that's usually not the entry point. It's not the winner's club. Yeah. Most people, like your hair's got to be on fire before you go like, yeah, I'll go hang with a bunch of dudes and talk about emotions. My feelings. My feelings. Yeah. It's not the most appealing offering.
Interviewer: I want to know about Missouri. Yeah. Because I think we've bonded over this before. And you saying I want more green in my life is something that I constantly think of. It's like, I just fuck, lakes is in my DNA. Yeah, you and me both. I hadn't read, shocking, I hadn't read Huckleberry Finn or Tom Sawyer, any of that until maybe two months ago I read both. Amazing. And now I'm reading the Chernow biography on Mark. Yeah, I just got it. I picked it up. Yeah. Good? Is it great? Yeah. It's awesome. Yeah. It looks really good. How close were you to where he grew up? It would have been the same. It's the Ozarks. It's the same. It's a pretty, I mean, it's a beautiful country. Yeah. But it's also the Mason-Dixon line, North and South fought there. It's a birthplace of televangelism. Oh, wow. A lot of meth labs in the, you know, it can be. Yeah. There is this dichotomy that's kind of always at play. And because it's this confluence of Midwestern and Southern and it, I don't know, it all kind of flattens out there in a way, at least like, you know, our accents are kind of more like this. We just kind of like talk like this and we just keep on going and just, you know, it's kind of like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And your dad owned a trucking company? At the tail end, he did. He ran a trucking company. He did? Yeah. On the docks. Loading. No, they didn't let me load. They didn't let you. They didn't let you near the forklift. Yeah, yeah. And mom was a counselor? She was a teacher and then was, you know, raised us and then got more into counseling after we left. Okay.
Interviewer: So what kind of, you have a very confusing, when I go through my stereotypes of where I grew up in Michigan, people didn't play tennis and they didn't really, they weren't swimmers. Like your sports are, I can't really put you in a box. You were an athlete, but you were doing, you were golfing and swimming. Never golfed. You didn't golf. That's...
Interviewee: No, I rebelled against golfing because everyone was golfing. Oh. Okay, okay. Well, it was rebelling against, it was kind of the sport of the, it felt like the sport of the religious right, a little bit to me. Oh, interesting.
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