Brad Pitt’s amazing national parks images hit plus American Idol

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Now that some time has passed since news broke of his impending divorce, actor Brad Pitt is finally opening up about his sudden split from long-time partner Angelina Jolie. As you may remember, people all around the world were left in a state of shock when it was officially announced that Angelina had filed for divorce from Brad. Subsequently, it was revealed that Angelina’s filing was partially prompted by an incident that happened while the Jolie-Pitt family was on an airplane, in which Brad had reportedly gotten physical with their adopted son Maddox.

For the latest issue of GQ Style, Brad posed for three different covers, which feature him in various National Parks across America. In addition to the covers, Brad also got surprisingly candid with the publication – particularly about his recent relationship troubles and his decision to quit drinking.

Looking back at the time of Angelina’s divorce filing, Brad recounted to GQ, “I was really on my back and chained to a system when Child Services was called. After that, we’ve been able to work together to sort this out. We’re both doing our best. I heard one lawyer say, ‘No one wins in court – it’s just a matter of who gets hurt worse.’ And it seems to be true. You spend a year just focused on building a case to prove your point and why you’re right and why they’re wrong, and it’s just an investment in vitriolic hatred. I just refuse. And fortunately, my partner in this agrees. It’s just very, very jarring for the kids, to suddenly have their family ripped apart.”

It has been roughly 8 months since Angelina and Brad officially announced their split and since then Brad has made some major changes in his life. The Benjamin Button actor revealed to the publication that he moved out of his former Hollywood Hills mansion, as it was “too sad” for him to be living there on his own. In discussing his decision to get sober, Brad confessed, “”I can’t remember a day since I got out of college when I wasn’t boozing or had a spliff, or something. Something. And you realize that a lot of it is, um — cigarettes, you know, pacifiers. And I’m running from feelings. I’m really, really happy to be done with all of that. I mean I stopped everything except boozing when I started my family. But even this last year, you know—things I wasn’t dealing with. I was boozing too much. It’s just become a problem. And I’m really happy it’s been half a year now, which is bittersweet, but I’ve got my feelings in my fingertips again. I think that’s part of the human challenge: You either deny them all of your life or you answer them and evolve.”

Below is an excerpt from the indepth interview with Brad Pitt.

Let’s go back to the start. What was it like growing up where you grew up?
Brad Pitt: Well, it was Springfield, Missouri, which is a big place now, but we grew up surrounded by cornfields—which is weird because we always had canned vegetables. I never could figure that one out! Anyway, ten minutes outside of town, you start getting into forests and rivers and the Ozark Mountains. Stunning country.

Did you have a Huck Finn boyhood?
Half the time. Half the time, yeah.

How so?
I grew up in caves. We had a lot of caves, fantastic caverns. And we grew up First Baptist, which is the cleaner, stricter, by-the-book Christianity. Then, when I was in high school, my folks jumped to a more charismatic movement, which got into speaking in tongues and raising your hands and some goofy-ass shit.

So were you there for speaking in tongues?
Yeah, come on. I’m not even an actor yet, but I know… I mean the people, I know they believe it. I know they’re releasing something. God, we’re complicated. We’re complicated creatures.

So acting came out of what you saw in these revival meetings?
Well, people act out. But as a kid, I was certainly drawn to stories—beyond the stories that we were living and knew, stories with different points of view. And I found those stories in film, especially. Different cultures and lives so foreign to mine. I think that was one of the draws that propelled me into film. I didn’t know how to articulate stories. I’m certainly not a good orator, sitting here telling a story, but I could foster them in film.

I remember going to a few concerts, even though we were told rock shows are the Devil, basically. Our parents let us go; they weren’t neo about it. But I realized that the reverie and the joy and exuberance, even the aggression, I was feeling at the rock show was the same thing at the revival. One is Jimmy Swaggart and one is Jerry Lee Lewis, you know? One’s God and one’s Devil. But it’s the same thing. It felt like we were being manipulated. What was clear to me was “You don’t know what you’re talking about—”

And it didn’t fuck you up?
No, it didn’t fuck me up—it just led to some eating questions at a young age.

Have you ever felt the need to be more political?
I can help in other ways. I can help by getting movies out with certain messages. I’ve got to be moved by something—I can’t fake it. I grew up with that Ozarkian mistrust of politics to begin with, so I just do better building a house for someone in New Orleans or getting certain movies to the screen that might not get made otherwise.

You’re good at playing that kind of character, the one that doesn’t have a truly accurate vision of himself.
It makes me laugh. Any of my foibles are born from my own hubris. Always, always. Anytime. I famously step in shit—at least for me it seems pretty epic. I often wind up with a smelly foot in my mouth. I often say the wrong thing, often in the wrong place and time. Often. In my own private Idaho, it’s funny as shit. I don’t have that gift. I’m better speaking in some other art form. I’m trying to get better. I’m really trying to get better.

And the movie really pokes at this, too, right—America’s hubris?
When I get in trouble it’s because of my hubris. When America gets in trouble it’s because of our hubris. We think we know better, and this idea of American exceptionalism—I think we’re exceptional in many ways, I do, but we can’t force it on others. We shouldn’t think we can. How do we show American exceptionalism? By example. It’s the same as being a good father. By exemplifying our tenets and our beliefs, freedom and choice and not closing borders and being protectionists. But that’s another issue. You want me to tell you something really sad? I thought this was so sad. We were looking at—let me say, a certain war film that was looking to promote itself. The European posters had the American flag in the background, and it came back from the marketing department: “Remove the flag. It’s not a good sell here.” I was, like, Man, that’s America. That’s what we’ve done to our brand.

You’ve played characters in pain. What is pain, emotional and physical?
Yeah, I’m kind of done playing those. I think it was more pain tourism. It was still an avoidance in some way. I’ve never heard anyone laugh bigger than an African mother who’s lost nine family members. What is that? I just got R&B for the first time. R&B comes from great pain, but it’s a celebration. To me, it’s embracing what’s left. It’s that African woman being able to laugh much more boisterously than I’ve ever been able to.

Do you think if the past six months hadn’t happened you’d be in this place eventually? That it would have caught up with you?
I think it would have come knocking, no matter what.

People call it a midlife crisis, but this isn’t the same—
No, this isn’t that. I interpret a midlife crisis as a fear of growing old and fear of dying, you know, going out and buying a Lamborghini. [pause] Actually—they’ve been looking pretty good to me lately! [laughs]

There might be a few Lamborghinis in your future!
“I do have a Ford GT,” he says quietly. [laughs] I do remember a few spots along the road where I’ve become absolutely tired of myself. And this is a big one. These moments have always been a huge generator for change. And I’m quite grateful for it. But me, personally, I can’t remember a day since I got out of college when I wasn’t boozing or had a spliff, or something. Something. And you realize that a lot of it is, um—cigarettes, you know, pacifiers. And I’m running from feelings. I’m really, really happy to be done with all of that. I mean I stopped everything except boozing when I started my family. But even this last year, you know—things I wasn’t dealing with. I was boozing too much. It’s just become a problem. And I’m really happy it’s been half a year now, which is bittersweet, but I’ve got my feelings in my fingertips again. I think that’s part of the human challenge: You either deny them all of your life or you answer them and evolve.

Was it hard to stop smoking pot?
No. Back in my stoner days, I wanted to smoke a joint with Jack and Snoop and Willie. You know, when you’re a stoner, you get these really stupid ideas. Well, I don’t want to indict the others, but I haven’t made it to Willie yet.

I’m sure he’s out there on a bus somewhere waiting for you. How about alcohol—you don’t miss it?
I mean, we have a winery. I enjoy wine very, very much, but I just ran it to the ground. I had to step away for a minute. And truthfully I could drink a Russian under the table with his own vodka. I was a professional. I was good.

So how do you just drop it like that?
Don’t want to live that way anymore.

What do you replace it with?
Cranberry juice and fizzy water. I’ve got the cleanest urinary tract in all of L.A., I guarantee you! But the terrible thing is I tend to run things into the ground. That’s why I’ve got to make something so calamitous. I’ve got to run it off a cliff.

Do you think that’s a thing?
I do it with everything, yeah. I exhaust it, and then I walk away. I’ve always looked at things in seasons, compartmentalized them, I guess, seasons or semesters or tenures or…

Really? So, this is the season of me getting my drink on.…
[laughs] Yeah, it’s that stupid. “This is my Sid and Nancy season.” I remember that one when I first got out to L.A. It got titled afterwards.

So then, you stop yourself, but how do you—I don’t know why this comes to mind but I think of a house—how do you renovate yourself?
Yeah, you start by removing all the decor and decorations, I think. You get down to the structure. Wow, we are in some big metaphor here now.… [laughs]

If you can believe it…American Idol might be returning to your television screen sooner rather than later. The show, after 15 seasons, came to an end back in 2016. While it was initially believed that the reality singing competition had run its course and was permanently going off the air, it now appears as though it will be returning after just a brief hiatus.

According to media outlet TMZ, TV networks FOX, NBC and ABC are all in talks to host a reboot of the show. The outlet also revealed that ABC is very serious about winning the rights to the show, as they are hoping to debut a brand new season early next year (2018).

Earlier this week, ABC TV personality Kelly Ripa announced that former American Idol host Ryan Seacrest would be joining as her co-host on her daily morning show Live with Kelly. This makes ABC’s interest in taking over American Idol even more interesting, as they now have Ryan Seacrest on-hand to potentially return to his AI hosting gig.

Although American Idol’s viewership ratings dropped drastically during the last few seasons, it looks as though TV executives are not ready to completely give up on the show just yet.

The post Brad Pitt’s amazing national parks images hit plus American Idol appeared first on Movie TV Tech Geeks News By: Ricki Reay