A-list, A-plus father! Brad Pitt posed for the November 2014 issue cover of Details magazine, and spoke about his favorite hobbies and pursuits in life in a stunning photo portfolio shot by Mark Seliger.
One revelation made by Angelina Jolie's husband, 50, regards his role as father of six kids — Maddox, 13, Pax, 10, Zahara, 9, Shiloh, 8, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 6. "I've discovered I don’t suck at being a dad," Pitt shared. Most recently, the entire Pitt-Jolie brood met the Queen of England last Friday, Oct. 10, when Jolie, 39, was presented with an Honorary Dame Grand Cross in Buckingham Palace.
Pitt acknowledged how his famous family's lives have played out before the cameras. "My soul was stolen by the camera so long ago," reflected Pitt. "I don't have to think about it anymore. One definition of freedom is the ability to follow your bliss without being watched, recorded, scrutinized."
The Oklahoma native has found this bliss in his appreciation for the great outdoors. "I will always be most comfortable in the outdoors," he reflected. "I grew up in the Ozarks — something resembling Mark Twain country. The woods, rivers, bluffs, lakes, and caves have all left an indelible mark on me. And I’m quite reverential when it comes to a tree. On my forearm, I had tattooed 94.9m (311.4ft) — the height of the largest sequoia."
Pitt added that he finds solace in riding motorcycles, something he's done since childhood. "I first rode at age 7 on my cousin’s Honda Mini Trail 50. I tried to jump it and ran it into my grandmother’s car," he told Details. "He was severely pissed off. My first bike was a Kawi 150 enduro. I won it at age 12 in a contest for selling the most pecan log rolls door-to-door after school. I crashed it four weeks later."
That didn't deter him from pursuing his lifelong passion. "I try to carve out time for a solo ride in every country I travel to, from the Highlands of Scotland to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco to the belly of India," Pitt revealed. "I haven’t even come close to fulfilling my list — yet. . . . But, in the traffic of L.A. with a helmet on, I’m just another asshole on the road."
Without the headgear, Pitt is a movie star who wants to make things better. "There is no solitude on a set, only problem solving," the actor told the mag. "I choose a role solely by how it speaks to me. And I sit in a fortunate seat where I can pull the trigger on the more difficult films. I was once talked into a film for 'career maintenance,'" said the hunk, whose film misfires have included Cool World (1992), The Devil's Own (1997), Johnny Suede (1991), and The Mexican (2001). "I have not made that mistake since."
His latest role in the war movie Fury required him to be in close, confined, and sometimes tense quarters with actors like Shia LaBeouf and Scott Eastwood. "A tank crew must work as a machine," Pitt reflected. "If one component is not synchronized with the others, you’re not going home… It’s surprising how close five guys get in a tank. I not only could tell you which one farted but what they had for dinner the night before."
