This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com\/resources for additional resources.<\/p>\n
In a rare mention of his personal life, Brad Pitt says in a new interview that he has never been suicidal \u201cexcept for one little period\u201d that was related to \u201cfamily stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 62-year-old Hollywood icon made a short reference to his family situation in an interview with Esquire published on Aug. 10 in which he talked about \u201coppressive\u201d pain that led him to a dark place where he could \u201cunderstand suicide.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the Esquire interview, Pitt initially shared his thoughts about going to dark places in life, unconnected to any question about his family.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was never suicidal in any way,\u201d he said. \u201cIt just was not my makeup. In fact, if I have any afflictions, it\u2019s probably being a congenital optimist,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He reiterated he\u2019s \u201cnever been suicidal,\u201d before adding, \u201cexcept for one little period.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd in that one little period, I just thought \u2014 I just couldn\u2019t \u2014 just didn\u2019t see a way out,\u201d he said. \u201cThe pain was so oppressive that \u2014 I wasn\u2019t going to act on this, but I could feel \u2014 I could feel the cold steel of the bullet in my head, and it felt like relief. And I thought, Oh, okay, now I understand \u2014 I understand suicide, in the sense that it\u2019s just relief. It\u2019s just looking for relief from the pain. But I also think we have incredible survival instincts. And for me, that immediately kicked in, but it was just …\u201d<\/p>\n
Pitt was asked what could have provoked him to think about suicide in that way. The reporter questioned if it was \u201ckid stuff,\u201d per the Esquire article.<\/p>\n
\u201cFamily stuff,\u201d Pitt said. \u201cWe could leave it at that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pitt and his ex-wife, Angelina Jolie, have six children. The couple reached a divorce settlement in 2024 after Jolie accused Pitt of verbal and physical abuse, which he has denied. Their daughter Shiloh, 20, legally dropped \u201cPitt\u201d from her last name when she turned 18 in 2024. Two of his other children have also considered ditching \u201cPitt\u201d from their last name, according to a court filing in California cited by CNN in July 2026.<\/p>\n
The \u201cF1\u201d star was later asked how he endured the difficult period he referenced.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t see it as climbing out of it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s going through it and trying and trying and trying and trying to the point of exhaustion and then trying again. I don\u2019t want to ignore the place where you run up against the wall. But I just one day woke up, and it just felt a little sunnier and the air felt a little sweeter. Just microdoses of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pitt does not make it clear in the interview what \u201clittle period\u201d he is referring to in his life. Elsewhere in the interview, he discussed the death of his mother in August 2025 and said, referencing his father, \u201cLet\u2019s just say it\u2019s better to be the one who goes first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once Hollywood\u2019s most famous couple, Pitt, and Jolie, 51, met on the set of the 2005 movie \u201cMr. & Mrs. Smith\u201d and got married in 2014. Jolie filed for divorce in 2016.<\/p>\n
In 2022, amid already contentious divorce proceedings, Jolie accused Pitt of physical and verbal abuse on a 2016 flight from France to Los Angeles, during which he allegedly choked one of their children, which prompted her to file for divorce, according to a court filing from Jolie.<\/p>\n