Brad Pitt is as pure a movie star as they come, but if anything a large swath of his work is often overlooked. To celebrate the Missourian’s 60th birthday, PvNew chief film critic Owen Gleiberman and Senior Awards Editor Clayton Davis look at the 20 best roles of Pitt’s career.
From “Interview With The Vampire” to “Fight Club” Pitt has morphed into hero, villain and even the (beloved) simpleminded trainer Chad Feldheimer for the Coen Brothers film “Burn After Reading.”
Just a few years shy of his best actor win for “once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” his portrayal of Cliff Booth in Quentin Tarantino’s film is widely considered the high-water mark of his career. But it’s certainly not the first film to grant him award’s buzz. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Burn After Reading,” “Moneyball” all landed him past nods for his acting as did his 1996 role for the science fiction thriller “12 Monkeys.”
In conversation with Adam Sandler in 2019 for PvNew’s Actors on Actors, Pitt shared his thoughts on filmmaking and acting. His first piece of advice? Keep it real, “ff it’s real for you, it’s going to be real, because the camera reads that.”
While accepting the award for best supporting actor at the Oscars he thanked the Academy and director Tarantino, “Tarantino, you are original, you are one of a kind. The film industry would be a much drier place without you,” the actors then turned to his co-star Leonardo DiCaprio and said, “Leo, I’ll ride on your coattails any day.”
Here is our list of Pitt’s best roles.
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20. Snatch (2000)
Image Credit: ©Columbia Pictures/courtesy Everett Co / Everett Collection As Cliff Booth, the lad-back and enigmatic stuntman in Quentin Tarantino’s “once Upon a Time in…Hollywood” (2019), the actor effortlessly brings quiet confidence and depth to the role. A testament to his mastery of nuanced characters, his portrayal is a captivating study in subtlety, where every expression and gesture speaks volumes, painting a vivid picture of a man who navigates the glitz and grit of 1970s Hollywood.
Winning the Oscar for best supporting actor, you can easily see why he ran away with the prize. His effortless charisma, paired with an understated complexity, elevates Booth beyond a mere supporting role, becoming an anchor that grounds the film in its nostalgic ambiance and exploration of Hollywood’s golden age. – CD
