Brad Pitt Named His Ten Favourite Actors

I was in Less Than Zero. That was my... Oh, cool. I was an extra in Less Than Zero. That was the one I was proud in. Are you saying... Can you get the still from it? You're actually seeing yourself? It's in the movie. I'm standing in the doorway with an outstanding mullet. Outstanding. From the outset of his career, Brad Pitt was likened to Robert Redford. The comparison was more than just cosmetic, though the physical resemblance between the two was often remarked upon. It spoke to the idea of Redford as the blueprint for a certain kind of leading man. No, I can't let myself feel bad. I do this in every city that I go into. It's my job. Pitt embraced that comparison with admiration rather than irritation. He's someone I looked up to immensely, Pitt once told The Guardian, describing Redford as effortless, principled, always believable. Pitt was especially moved by Redford's performances in Three Days of the Condor, All the President's Men, and The Candidate. The story of the two young reporters who cracked the Watergate conspiracy. White House. Howard Hunt, please. He might be in Mr Colson's office. Who's Charles Colson? Certainly it comes as no surprise to you that Howard was with the CIA. No, no surprise at all. Those films shaped Pitt's understanding of how an actor could exude intelligence and moral complexity without tipping into overt sentimentality. There's a kind of quiet rebellion in his characters, Pitt noted in a retrospective for Esquire. You can see it even when he's doing very little. The connection came full circle when Pitt starred in A River Runs Through It, a film directed by Redford himself. You're not going to catch anything anyway, it's too damn hot. Maybe catch three doses of class. Working under his idol was an experience Pitt has since described as daunting and instructive, claiming that Redford helped him better understand the subtleties of restraint. He didn't give me line readings or push me, but somehow he steered me toward the right tone, Pitt recalled. The point was Redford made us better. He was the real star of the film. We put it together the way he told the story and he elevated us. That experience deepened his appreciation for acting as a craft, but it also made Pitt more conscious of how expectations can weigh heavily on performers. Following the example set by Redford, Pitt sought actors who weren't just technically skilled, but who brought an unpredictable energy to the screen. Chief among these was Jack Nicholson. You want answers? I think I'm entitled. You want answers! I want the truth! You can't handle the truth! Pitt has referred to Nicholson as a giant, noting in Premier Magazine that, when he's on screen, you don't know what he's going to do next, and that's exhilarating. Nicholson's performances in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Shining had a particular effect on Pitt. Do you think there's anything wrong with your mind, really? Not a thing, doc. Excuse me, miss. Do you think it might be possible to turn that music down so maybe a couple of the boys could talk? He was struck by the sense that Nicholson never lost the core of his character, even when veering into the extreme. He plays it on the edge. Pitt once said, you never catch him acting, he's just being. It was that spontaneity that most impressed Pitt. He saw in Nicholson a freedom that defied the overly mannered school of acting. The message was clear. Great performances weren't about polish, but about presence. He never tries to charm the audience, Pitt observed, but you're with him all the way. This realisation led Pitt to seek out roles that allowed for more psychological texture rather than those built on conventional heroics. If Nicholson brought danger to the screen, Mickey Rourke represented its rawest form. It just didn't work out like that. And I left. I left you. Pitt has said on multiple occasions that Rourke blew his mind in the 1980s. Watching Rumble Fish and Barfly left a lasting impression. He made acting look like a kind of street poetry, Pitt told Rolling Stone, I didn't know it could be like that. Rourke's unpredictability and refusal to be boxed in appealed to Pitt, particularly at a time when he was struggling with the constraints of being cast as the pretty boy. There was something almost reckless in how Rourke approached scenes, Pitt recalled. He didn't care about looking good. He cared about being truthful. Yeah, because a lot of guys can talk a good game and then they get on the floor and they fall to ----. And you know by the end of the week if their trust and their respect are going to grow or you're going to have a hard time. Pitt admired how Rourke rejected stardom when it became burdensome. He walked away from the game, Pitt told Entertainment Weekly, and there's a nobility in that even if it came at a cost. That cost and the commitment that led to it encouraged Pitt to take riskier roles like Tyler Durden in Fight Club, a character built not for admiration but for provocation. Is that what a man looks like? Self-improvement is masturbation, not self-destruction. Pitt's admiration for Sean Penn is not limited to performance style. It extends into Penn's moral compass and political activism. That he knew that the administration was deceiving the American people into a situation that is murdering young men and women from this country and others. That George Tenet and Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice and George Bush et al should be in ******* jail. When he's on screen, I admire him, Pitt told Interview Magazine, off screen too for his convictions. Penn's performances in Dead Man Walking, Mystic River and 21 Grams revealed to Pitt an approach to acting that was rooted in discomfort. He doesn't let you relax, Pitt noted. He's not performing for applause. He's performing to get at something ugly, something human. Is that my daughter in there? Is she in there? That unwillingness to compromise, on or off the screen, had a significant influence on Pitt's own choices. His portrayal of Billy Bean in Moneyball and the journalist in The Big Short show a man more interested in social undercurrents than easy victories. There's a danger in being liked too much, Pitt once said. Penn reminded me that it's okay to make the audience work. This shift in thinking made Pitt more selective in the roles he accepted, prioritising substance over surface. Not all of Pitt's favourites are household names. He's repeatedly mentioned Timothy Hutton, who won an Oscar at just 20 years old for Ordinary People. Yeah? Well screw you, you jerk! There's a scene in that film where he doesn't say a word, but everything is there, Pitt said in a profile with Esquire. That's when I realised acting is about listening as much as speaking. Hutton's ability to convey internal suffering without melodrama was what most impressed Pitt. He's not flashy, and that's what makes it so affecting, he said. It's almost like he's not trying to be in the scene, he just is. Hutton didn't pursue mainstream stardom, and that decision resonated with Pitt. Some people chase the light, others make it move, Pitt mused. He was never the loudest guy in the room, but you always noticed him. That quiet strength reaffirmed for Pitt the value of nuance and restraint, particularly in ensemble casts where ego can dominate. At some point, every actor reckons with Marlon Brando. For Pitt, it happened when he watched A Streetcar Named Desire. It was like watching a different species, he told GQ. He wasn't acting, he was reacting, living, burning through the frame. Pitt described that first viewing as a moment of revelation. It wasn't just that he was good, it was that everything around him looked false by comparison. He also appreciated Brando's contradictions, the mix of vulnerability and danger, and the way he destabilised every scene. He made everything feel less rehearsed, more dangerous, Pitt said. Brando's later years were marked by erratic performances and reclusiveness, but even that struck a chord with Pitt. He couldn't handle the circus, he said. That kind of truth-telling comes at a cost. Pitt's own ambivalence about fame may well have its roots in that observation. He's frequently talked about the pressure of maintaining a public persona and the psychological toll that can take. Where Brando confronted you with his rawness, Gary Oldman achieved something different. He vanished entirely into roles. That guy can play anyone, Pitt said in an interview with Empire. He's like a ghost that walks through the story and leaves it marked. Pitt was captivated by Oldman's chameleon-like performances in Sid and Nancy, Prick Up Your Ears, and The Contender. He doesn't bring Gary Oldman to the role, Pitt explained. He brings the role to life from the inside out. What Pitt found most admirable was the way Oldman avoided typecasting despite having a distinct look and voice. He never coasted on charm or good looks, Pitt noted. It was always about the work, not the applause. That ethos informed Pitt's own approach to transformative roles in 12 Monkeys, Snatch, and The Assassination of Jesse James. The goal became to disappear into the part rather than shape it around his persona. Brad Pitt's list of favourite actors isn't dominated by male figures alone. He has singled out Diane Wiest as a performer of extraordinary depth. What I decided to do is some writing. I think I've had it with acting. You know, these meaningless auditions at cattle calls and I can't handle another rejection. She's the most beautiful woman on screen, Pitt once told Vanity Fair. Not in a surface way. There's something completely absorbing about her. Pitt has praised her work in Parenthood, Hannah and Her Sisters, and The Birdcage, noting the way she could anchor a scene without drawing attention to herself. He described her performances as like watching someone breathe. You can't see the effort, but you know something vital is happening. Wiest's quiet power influenced the way Pitt thought about supporting roles. You don't need the spotlight to change the temperature of a scene, he said. She makes everyone else better just by being there. It was a lesson in generosity. How great acting isn't about domination, but collaboration. Pitt's admiration for younger actors includes a surprising entry, Shia LaBeouf. Yeah, you know you're in trouble. You still having voice problems? Just playing it up. After working with him on Fury, Pitt came away with new respect for the younger performer. Shia is one of the best I've ever seen, he told British GQ. His commitment is insane. He lived in that tank, didn't bathe for weeks, pulled his own tooth out. He's all in. While LaBeouf's off-screen behaviour has sometimes drawn controversy, Pitt focused on the work. He reminded me why I got into this, he said. It's easy to get jaded or safe. Watching him reminded me to keep it dangerous. That energy fed into Pitt's own performance in Fury, which critics praised as one of his most layered and disciplined. He credited LaBeouf with raising the bar on set, and challenging everyone to go further. Though often grouped together as peers, Pitt and DiCaprio didn't share a film until Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. When they finally did, Pitt said it felt like it had always been coming. Tread in water, now race to the bottom. Look, I never had much career to speak of, so I can't say I really know how you feel. He described DiCaprio as a professional through and through, and someone who plays every scene like it's his last. Their mutual respect was evident in interviews. DiCaprio has called Pitt effortlessly talented, while Pitt praised DiCaprio's fearlessness and attention to detail. Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Pitt said, We just popped at the same time, but we've taken very different routes. Pitt values DiCaprio not just as a performer, but as someone who continues to evolve. You don't stay at the top that long unless you're growing, Pitt said, and he keeps growing. Their collaboration was seen by many as a high point in both their careers, underscoring the value of patience and timing in an actor's journey.