Brad Pitt is getting candid. The actor recently revealed that he is no longer sober after seven years of sobriety. But he also shared some dark thoughts that he has had over the years.
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The Hollywood icon says family drama left him feeling like he could "understand suicide."
"I was never suicidal in any way. It just was not my makeup," he said in an interview with Esquire published Aug. 10. "In fact, if I have any afflictions, it's probably being a congenital optimist. Which has helped many times, and it's also gotten me—I've walked foolishly head-on into a Mack truck because of my optimism. Or, as my forever-funny friend David Fincher will say, Yeah, you see the glass as half full, but it's half full of urine."
He continued, "Anyway, I've never been suicidal except for one little period. And in that one little period, I just thought—I just couldn't—just didn't see a way out. The pain was so oppressive that—I wasn't going to act on this, but I could feel—I could feel the cold steel of the bullet in my head, and it felt like relief."
Brad Pitt Talks Drama
Pitt said that he understands why people break.
"And I thought, 'Oh, okay, now I understand'—I understand suicide, in the sense that it's just relief. It's 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 . . . Yeah. Like, listen: This s--- ain't easy," Pitt concluded. "And you're talking to a guy who won the lottery."
Pitt didn't go into details on exactly what happened, but he said that it was family stuff. Pitt infamously divorced Angelina Jolie after splitting in 2016. The two share six kids together, four of which dropped Pitt from their last names.
"I think you get to my age and see how important it is to surround yourself with the people you know, the people you love, the people that love you back. Friends, family, and that's it. From there, we get to go make things. It's a pretty simple, I think, equation," Pitt said.
If you or someone you love is dealing with thoughts of suicide or self harm, know there is help out there. Please call 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
