At 28, he landed a role that would change his career forever, a role for which he wasn't even the first choice. Nor second choice. Nor the third. To portray J.D., the iron-abbed, seductive cowboy in Thelma & Louise who seduces an innocent Arkansas housewife before robbing her (Geena Davis), there was a flurry of candidates, including Mark Ruffalo and George Clooney, who were considered. But it was Brad Pitt who snagged it, kickstarting an unstoppable rise in Hollywood. On Monday, one of cinema's all-time great sex symbols turned 60 years old. Yes, 60.
Pitt has starred in more than a hundred films and a handful of series, has won two Golden Globes and two Oscars, one as a producer for 12 Years a Slave. He has his own production company, Plan B Entertainment — launched in 2001 with his ex-wife Jennifer Aniston — and a fortune of around $300 million, according to various sources. He is also the quintessential Hollywood hunk, not matter how old he gets.
Davis herself recalls finding him so "cute" that she couldn't get her lines right during auditions in Shawnee, the 30,000-inhabitant town in Oklahoma where Pitt, born on December 18, 1963, grew up. It almost ruined her audition.
But it is clear that Pitt has been able to rise and earn industry acclaim for more than just his physical appearance. He shone as the lead in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and before that in 12 Monkeys, as well as starring in films such as Moneyball, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Inglourious Basterds, both by Quentin Tarantino. He's been a constant on the silver screen for 30 years, be it acting or producing like in Ad Astra (2019) or Wolf, a thriller slated with his close friend George Clooney for 2024.
And it seems he's not going to stop anytime soon. He's having a blast, calling it "the best time of my life," as he mentioned in a recent interview on set for Joseph Kosinski's untitled Formula 1 film. Gone are the years of drama and paparazzi chasing every step he took with his ex-wife, fellow actress Angelina Jolie, whom he met while filming the 2006 film Mr. and Mrs. Smith and with whom he has six children, three of them adopted.
Since Jolie filed for divorce in September 2016, the legal battle for custody of their children has been ongoing. The actress had full control until May 2021, when a judge ruled that joint custody should be imposed. The other legal front is the dispute over the French vineyard Château Miraval that they bought together in 2008. The actress's lawyers are claiming $350 million in damages from Pitt's lawyers.
New love
The love life of the World War Z star is much less tumultuous these days, at least as far as tabloid exposure is concerned. His current partner is Inés de Ramón, a jewelry designer 32 years his junior. They were first photographed together in November last year at a Bono concert in Los Angeles Since then, she's joined him at the Babylon premiere and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art annual gala.
According to the tabloids, they have helped each other overcome previous relationship crises. She was previously married to Paul Wesley, 41, of The Vampire Diaries fame, filing for divorce in September 2022, when she had already been dating the American actor for several months.
Inés de Ramón currently works for Anita Jo's jewelry firm in Los Angeles after stints at Christie's and De Grisogono, a Swiss luxury brand. She speaks several languages and graduated from the University of Geneva in 2013 with a degree in Business Administration.
After meeting Pitt through a mutual friend, they are currently enjoying a stable relationship, a departure from their previous commitments. "They're dating and having fun," a source told People. "They've built something good. There's no stress. Brad's enjoying it." One can only imagine that they spent Brad's 60th together at the beginning of the week.