Denton County Living Well Magazine July/August 2019 | Page 10

JULY/AUGUST
JULY/AUGUST 2019
2019
SPOTLIGHT
COMING OF AGE
Brad Pitt is older, wiser, and better than ever.
B
By Sondra Barr
rad Pitt always knew he was going somewhere. Growing up, it
wasn’t clear where he was headed from his hometown of Spring-
field, Missouri, but he knew it was beyond. Beyond what, a
youthful Pitt knew not what, but it was an “itch” he felt then that the
celebrated actor and director says still guides him today at age 55.
His is a Hollywood success story few get to experience. Less than two cred-
its shy of a journalism degree, Pitt up and left the University of Missouri in his
final semester and headed west in his Datsun for sunny California. Accord-
ing to a 2017 Esquire article, Pitt had never been as far west as Colorado.
He shouted as he crossed the Colorado state line and then at every state line
thereafter, until he ended up in Los Angeles—“me and my big old mullet.”
“I just knew there were a lot more points of view out there. I wanted to see them.
I wanted to hear them. I always liked film as a teaching tool—a way of getting
exposed to ideas that had never been presented to me. It just wasn’t on the list
of career options where I grew up. Then it occurred to me, literally two weeks
before graduation; if the opportunity isn’t here, I’ll go to it. So simple. But it had
never occurred to me. I’ll just go to it,” Pitt explained in a 2013 interview.
For a few months after arriving in Los Angeles, Pitt supported himself by “driv-
ing strippers in limos, moving refrigerators, and dressing as a giant chicken
while working for a fast food chain.” But, unlike the masses that flock to that city
and toil away for years in the hopes of fame, fortune found Pitt easily. While
accompanying a friend to an audition with an agent, in a made for television
twist, the agent signed Pitt on the spot. In less than 12 months after arriving in
Hollywood, Pitt was appearing in episodes of Dallas and Growing Pains.
“When I left Missouri, I wasn’t ready to call it quits as far as getting out
into the world,” Pitt told Parade about his life. “It wasn’t leaving something
behind, it was heading for something that was nascent and ill-defined. I
did not know what it would be when I got to L.A., and to me not know-
ing that has always been the most exciting thing about making a trip.”
What a trip it’s been. According to Biography, it was a well-timed bit part in
a controversial film that propelled Pitt to instant stardom. Despite only a few
minutes of screen time, Pitt’s turn as a sugar-tongued hitchhiker in the 1991 film
Thelma and Louise perfectly showcased his unique brand of charisma, good
looks, and soulful sensuality. The role as a charming criminal instantly made Pitt
a sex symbol and paved the way for meatier, more multi-dimensional roles.
Continued, page 10
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DENTON COUNTY Living Well Magazine | JULY/AUGUST 2019