Oscar-winning actor Brad Pitt contemplated suicide due to family issues. He also admitted to resuming alcohol consumption after a seven-year period of sobriety. The 62-year-old actor spoke openly for the first time about the darkest period of his life, a time when he felt there was “no way out.” Pitt told a magazine, “I’ve never been suicidal, except for a brief period in my life. During that time, I just thought—I can’t do this anymore. I couldn’t see a way out.” This report appeared in the online edition of a British tabloid.
Pitt said the pain was so unbearable that he could feel the cold metal of a bullet against his head, and it felt like a source of relief. “I thought, ‘Oh, okay, now I understand suicide’—in the sense that it’s just relief. It’s simply a way to escape the pain. But I also believe we have a strong instinct to survive. And in my case, that instinct kicked in immediately.” When asked what led him to that lowest point in his life, he replied, “Family matters—we can leave it at that.”
Brad and his ex-wife, actress Angelina Jolie (51), are parents to six children. They adopted Maddox, Pax, and Zahara, and have biological children Shiloh and 18-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne. Brad and Angelina’s marriage ended in a bitter divorce in 2016; since then, the children have seemingly sided with their mother.
A heated argument once broke out between Brad and Angelina in front of their children on a private jet. There were also allegations of a confrontation between Brad and Maddox on the same flight. Subsequently, four of their six children filed legal documents to drop Brad’s surname. In 2024, at the age of 18, Shiloh hired her own lawyer and legally changed her surname to Shiloh Jolie. In May 2026, Maddox filed formal court documents to legally adopt the name ‘Maddox Chivan Jolie’; prior to this, he had already been using the surname Jolie professionally for his film work.
Zahara publicly dropped the surname ‘Pitt’ during a college sorority event. Subsequently, in mid-2026, she completed the legal process to change her name to Zahara Marley Jolie. After being known professionally as Vivienne Jolie while working on a Broadway production, she applied to legally drop the surname ‘Pitt’ in July 2026, upon turning 18. However, Knox and Pax Jolie-Pitt have not filed any applications to legally change their names.
In the interview, Brad also discussed his decision to resume drinking. He had previously joined Alcoholics Anonymous after admitting to excessive alcohol consumption. He said, “I stayed sober for seven years. Then I strayed from that path.” The actor added, “I became overconfident a few times. Then I realized—yeah, this isn’t good for me. Certainly not in large quantities.”
Before the interview, after being offered a glass of wine, Brad was asked if he could now drink “a glass of wine.” He replied, “Well, I can have a few glasses. But I can’t drink too much. I have to be disciplined about it.”
Last year, Brad discussed his sobriety on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast. Reflecting on the initial difficulty he faced in opening up about his struggles at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, he said, “I was trying anything—whatever anyone put in front of me, anything at all. It was a tough time. I had to start over.” There were certain matters regarding which I had to wake up—truly wake up. And the issue had become very important to me. Everyone was so open. In 2020, Brad thanked fellow actor Bradley Cooper for helping him get sober.
