There are few actors who have commanded as much attention both on screen and off as Brad Pitt. While the ups and downs of his personal life have often dominated headlines, he has simultaneously built one of the richest filmographies in history over the past four decades, featuring blockbusters and cult favourites, and even stepped into the role of producer with Oscar-winning films.
And at 61, he's showing no signs of slowing down. This month, Pitt stars in F1: The Movie. Ahead of the action-sport film's Abu Dhabi premiere, we look back at the evolution of one of modern cinema's most reliable stalwarts.
1963-1990: Early life and small roles
William Bradley Pitt was born on December 18, 1963, in Shawnee, Oklahoma, before moving to Springfield, Missouri. He was the eldest of three children. His father, William Alvin Pitt, owned a trucking company, while his mother, Jane Etta, worked as a school counsellor. Both of his parents encouraged him and his siblings to pursue their interests, fostering creativity and ambition. As a teenager, Pitt took part in drama classes and school plays but initially studied journalism and advertising at the University of Missouri. Two years into his studies, he decided to pursue a career in acting instead.
In 1986, Pitt moved to Los Angeles with just $325 to his name. He worked a variety of jobs including waiting tables and chauffeuring to support himself while attending acting classes. Early roles were small parts in television shows such as Dallas (1987-88) and 21 Jump Street (1988), which gave him exposure, but did not immediately lead to stardom.
1991: Breakthrough with Thelma & Louise
Pitt’s breakthrough came in 1991 with the release of Ridley Scott’s Thelma & Louise. His portrayal of a charismatic drifter who captures the hearts of the lead characters, played by Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon, earned him critical acclaim and introduced him to a wider audience. The film’s success marked a turning point in Pitt's career, opening doors to more significant roles.
1992-1995: Transition to leading man
In the early 1990s, Pitt starred in period dramas such as A River Runs Through It in 1992, and Interview with the Vampire and Legends of the Fall, both in 1994, which showcased his ability to carry emotional and complex roles while playing the love interest.
His career took a darker turn with David Fincher’s murder mystery Se7en in 1995, where he played a capable detective alongside screen veteran Morgan Freeman. That same year, Pitt earned his first Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category for his role in Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys, a sci-fi film about time travel and the end of the world.
His rise hit some turbulence in 1998, when Pitt starred in the romantic film Meet Joe Black, a remake of the 1934 film Death Takes a Holiday. The film received mixed reviews from critics who began to question Pitt's ability to portray the straight romantic lead, leading to a significant adjustment in how he presented himself to audiences moving forward.
1999: From heart-throb to Fight Club
In 1999, Pitt’s previously conceived image of a heart-throb would be challenged as he took on the role of Tyler Durden in Fincher’s Fight Club. While the film divided critics and audiences upon release, it later became a cult classic and significantly raised Pitt’s profile. His portrayal of the character has also transcended cinema, turning the character into a controversial cultural icon for certain corners of modern masculinity.
Fight Club was a true turning point for Pitt and the types of roles he would take on. He followed it up with leading roles in Guy Ritchie's Snatch in 2000, then The Mexican, Spy Game and Ocean's Eleven in 2001.
While he still had the looks of a romance novel cover star, Pitt eschewed that archetype, purposefully undermining that image with gruff, deeply flawed characters from the fringes of society. That interplay came to define his career. The switch not only added depth to those roles, but altered his persona moving forward – while also foreshadowing some of his more public struggles.
2000-2016: Personal life in the spotlight
Pitt’s personal life attracted significant media attention throughout the 2000s. He married actress Jennifer Aniston, from the hit sitcom Friends, in 2000, and they became one of Hollywood’s most famous couples. The marriage ended in 2005. That same year, Pitt began a relationship with actress Angelina Jolie.
The pair met on the set of the action film Mr. & Mrs. Smith the year prior. Together, they became known as “Brangelina” and built a blended family with six children, three of whom were adopted internationally.
Pitt and Jolie married in 2014, but separated two years later. Their divorce proceedings were widely covered in the media and revealed allegations of abuse by Jolie, which were denied by Pitt's representatives.
The fallout from the divorce revelations hurt Pitt's public image and reputation, furthered by his children's choice to sever ties with him.
2010s-present: Awards recognition behind and in front of the camera
In the 2010s, Pitt continued to appear in diverse and challenging roles even amid his struggles off-camera. In Bennett Miller’s Moneyball from 2011, he played Billy Beane, the real-life baseball executive who almost took the Oakland A’s to the World Series. The role earned Pitt his third Academy Award nomination. His second nomination came in 2009 for his role in Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
A defining moment of the decade came with Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood from 2019. Pitt’s performance as stuntman Cliff Booth won him his first Academy Award for acting the following year. He had already won his first Oscar as producer for Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave in 2014.
Pitt stepped into the producer role in 2006 with Martin Scorsese's The Departed. Since then, he has been credited as producer on celebrated and acclaimed films such as The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Tree of Life, The Big Short and Ad Astra.
Through his production company Plan B, Pitt has often championed stories of filmmakers of colour such as the Asian-American immigrant tale Minari directed by Lee Isaac Chung, and the 2025 Best Picture nominee Nickel Boys, a tale of systemic racism against the black community in 20th-century Florida directed by RaMell Ross.
Pitt's latest roles have also directly been inspired by his personal struggles. For Bullet Train, he told Et bil Arabi: “That's what drew me to the role. This man who’s trying to grow – but also somewhat regressing – on his way to being a better person. My own experience with self-help and therapy allowed me to [make light] of that.
“There are moments when you have one epiphany and you think you have the whole egg figured out, and then you step in a pile of crap the next day. This was making fun of that, and I took great pleasure in it.”
With F1: The Movie shaping up to be one of his biggest yet, another film about a late-career comeback, Pitt's interplay between personal and professional seems set to continue long into the future.
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
The%20specs
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
TICKETS
For tickets for the two-day Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) event, entitled Dubai Invasion 2019, on September 27 and 28 go to www.meraticket.com.
The%20Sandman
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ENGLAND%20SQUAD
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How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Players Selected for La Liga Trials
U18 Age Group
Name: Ahmed Salam (Malaga)
Position: Right Wing
Nationality: Jordanian
Name: Yahia Iraqi (Malaga)
Position: Left Wing
Nationality: Morocco
Name: Mohammed Bouherrafa (Almeria)
Position: Centre-Midfield
Nationality: French
Name: Mohammed Rajeh (Cadiz)
Position: Striker
Nationality: Jordanian
U16 Age Group
Name: Mehdi Elkhamlichi (Malaga)
Position: Lead Striker
Nationality: Morocco
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km
Price: from Dh94,900
On sale: now
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
Company%20Profile
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ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
More on animal trafficking
RESULTS
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World Test Championship table
1 India 71 per cent
2 New Zealand 70 per cent
3 Australia 69.2 per cent
4 England 64.1 per cent
5 Pakistan 43.3 per cent
6 West Indies 33.3 per cent
7 South Africa 30 per cent
8 Sri Lanka 16.7 per cent
9 Bangladesh 0
Jumanji: The Next Level
Director: Jake Kasdan
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Jack Black, Nick Jonas
Two out of five stars
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
THE BIO
Favourite car: Koenigsegg Agera RS or Renault Trezor concept car.
Favourite book: I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes or Red Notice by Bill Browder.
Biggest inspiration: My husband Nik. He really got me through a lot with his positivity.
Favourite holiday destination: Being at home in Australia, as I travel all over the world for work. It’s great to just hang out with my husband and family.
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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UAE
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Norway
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Canada
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
Du Football Champions
The fourth season of du Football Champions was launched at Gitex on Wednesday alongside the Middle East’s first sports-tech scouting platform.“du Talents”, which enables aspiring footballers to upload their profiles and highlights reels and communicate directly with coaches, is designed to extend the reach of the programme, which has already attracted more than 21,500 players in its first three years.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Results:
Men's 100m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 15 sec; 2. Rheed McCracken (AUS) 15.40; 3. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 15.75. Men's 400m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 50.56; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 50.94; 3. Henry Manni (FIN) 52.24.
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
'How To Build A Boat'
Jonathan Gornall, Simon & Schuster
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Babumoshai Bandookbaaz
Director: Kushan Nandy
Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Bag, Jatin Goswami
Three stars
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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SPECS
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Western Clubs Champions League:
- Friday, Sep 8 - Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Bahrain
- Friday, Sep 15 – Kandy v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
- Friday, Sep 22 – Kandy v Bahrain
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3EName%3A%20Tabby%3Cbr%3EFounded%3A%20August%202019%3B%20platform%20went%20live%20in%20February%202020%3Cbr%3EFounder%2FCEO%3A%20Hosam%20Arab%2C%20co-founder%3A%20Daniil%20Barkalov%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Payments%3Cbr%3ESize%3A%2040-50%20employees%3Cbr%3EStage%3A%20Series%20A%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Arbor%20Ventures%2C%20Mubadala%20Capital%2C%20Wamda%20Capital%2C%20STV%2C%20Raed%20Ventures%2C%20Global%20Founders%20Capital%2C%20JIMCO%2C%20Global%20Ventures%2C%20Venture%20Souq%2C%20Outliers%20VC%2C%20MSA%20Capital%2C%20HOF%20and%20AB%20Accelerator.%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Sebastian Stefan, Sebastian Morar and Claudia Pacurar
Based: Dubai, UAE
Founded: 2014
Number of employees: 36
Sector: Logistics
Raised: $2.5 million
Investors: DP World, Prime Venture Partners and family offices in Saudi Arabia and the UAE
