It’s something of a surprise that Brad Pitt hasn’t already appeared on legendary interview series ‘Inside the Actor’s Studio’, but if that box is one that needed to be ticked for Pitt then this may be the year where he gets to tick a whole lot of them. Turning up at the filming of the interview with James Lipton Pitt looked comfortable and at-ease in Dolce&Gabbana. 

Having previously been nominated for two Oscars, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for ’12 Monkeys’ (1995) and for Best Actor in ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ (2008) Pitt is up for two gongs this time out. First in the all-important Best Actor category for baseball allegory flick ‘Moneyball’, which was also produced by Pitts company Plan B films and is also up for the Best Picture award. If that’s not enough, Terrence Malick’s family drama ‘The Tree of Life’, which stars Pitt, is also up for Best Picture.

Brad Pitt wears a classic suit by Dolce&Gabbana

That’s quite a haul for an actor who’s been pretty much a constant presence on our move screens. However he swapped the silver screen for her smaller cousin and filmed an appearance on ‘Inside the Actor’s Studio’. For anyone unfamiliar with the show, it is an in depth and serious look at an actor’s methods and career. Done in an intimate one-on-one format it makes for compelling viewing and usually has Hollywood’s A-listers queuing up to be a part of it. Pitt swaggered into the studio in New York City for filming wearing a classic Dolce&Gabbana suit with a casual collarless shirt underneath.

In a recent interview with The Guardian, Pitt explains why he got involved in film production “Instead of sitting there waiting for projects to come in, I wanted to start exploring stories that interested me.” As for ‘Moneyball’, it is a curious case indeed. Originally a Steven Soderbergh project, the director abandoned it and Pitt, one of the films three producers fought for five years to get the project up and running again. On first release the film, let’s not say ‘bombed’, but garnered modest returns, yet the critics loved it and they continue to laud the merits of the baseball-as-allegory-for-life form the movie takes. American film critics are just suckers for baseball movies apparently.

 Brad PItt is nominated for his role in baseball film 'Moneyball'

Pitt’s career has arched a trajectory through bit art player to leading man to weightier roles and now producer and Hollywood sage. At 48 years old Pitt is approaching the status of Grand Old Duke in Hollywood terms and he seems much more at ease as his looks mature no longer suffering the casing constraints of his impossible good looks. In fact, he plans to hang up his acting gloves at the age of 50. However with rumours abounding that he and his wife Angelina are pregnant again he’ll have more than enough to keep him occupied. Perhaps those sleepless nights will slow the man down and spoil his fresh-faced good looks? Perhaps, but we doubt it.

by Hugo Mc Cafferty