Brad Pitt has starred in some of the most iconic movies of the 1990s and early 2000s like “Thelma & Louise,” “Interview with the Vampire,” “Fight Club,” “Seven,” “Ocean’s Eleven,” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” While Pitt still continues to focus on making movies, he starred in a number of beloved TV shows during his early career, including a guest appearance in one of the best sitcoms ever made: “Friends.” Pitt also racked up roles in “Dallas” and “21 Jump Street” during the 1980s. That’s without mentioning his flirtation with horror on the small screen, like “Freddy’s Nightmares” and “Tales from the Crypt” — which is one of the best horror shows of all time.
Pitt is preparing to debut his new Netflix movie, “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth,” which sees him reprise his role as the aging stunt man from Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood.” Since the film arrives on the streamer in December, here’s Pitt’s quote of the day.
Quote of the Day by Brad Pitt
“Grief, if you survive it, leaves a gaping hole, but it also leaves profound beauty. It’s an aching beauty, but it’s beauty.”
Brad Pitt opened up about his perspective on grief when speaking to Esquire in 2026. A large chunk of the profile is about promoting his new movie, “Heart of the Beast,” as well as “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth.” But he also discussed how he felt like he couldn’t be sad as a child. Pitt recalled a time he was upset when he learned that Peter Duel, the star of “Alias Smith and Jones,” died by suicide in 1971.
As the conversation carried on, he continued to discuss grief in a deeper way and explained that he occasionally feels envious about other people living carefree lives, and thinks about how his father lives alone in their house. Jane Pitt, the actor’s mother, died in 2025 age 84. Although he didn’t specifically speak about the loss in the article, he called grief a “challenge.”
Deeper meaning of Brad Pitt’s quote — grief isn’t straightforward
Brad Pitt’s opinion on grief is a fascinating acknowledgement that dealing with grief and loss is not a straightforward emotion. For starters, it’s an awful thing for anyone to go through, and the pain of losing someone close to us can be immeasurable no matter the circumstances. So when Pitt uses the word “survive,” it’s because it truly feels like life is testing us when we have to deal with that pain.
But two things can be true at the same time. Grief can be one of the hardest things that we deal with, and it can also make us reflect on our time with that person in a beautiful way or even recognize their impact on us. Of course, that doesn’t negate the grief itself, which is why Pitt calls it “an aching beauty.”
Pitt’s comments are a reminder to us that navigating grief is a complex thing to process, and it’s reassuring to know that other people struggle with different emotions when dealing with it. He also pointed out that, over time, it can feel less intense, adding: “I don’t want to ignore the place where you run up against the wall. But I just one day woke up, and it just felt a little sunnier and the air felt a little sweeter. Just microdoses of it.”
More quotes from Brad Pitt
- “I believe you make your day. You make your life. So much of it is all perception, and this is the form that I built for myself. I have to accept it and work within those compounds, and it’s up to me.” — from a 2004 interview with BlackFilm
- “I had a friend who worked at a hospice, and he said people in their final moments don’t discuss their successes, awards, or what books they wrote or what they accomplished. They only talk about their loves and their regrets, and I think that’s very telling.” — from a 2009 interview with The Daily Telegraph
- “I’ve always been at war with myself, for right or wrong. I don’t know how to explain it more. There’s that constant argument going on in your head about this or that. It’s universal. Some people are better at dealing with it, and they sleep with no pain — not pain, arguments. I’ve grown quite comfortable with being at war.” — from a 2012 interview with The Hollywood Reporter
- “When you first get opportunities, suddenly you get surrounded by a lot of people who want to make money off you but also are there to help. But they start telling you so much what you need to be and what you need to do to maintain some idea of career maintenance.” — from a 2012 interview with Backstage