How Brad Pitt Became A Movie Star
Every year, thousands of people decide to chase the dream of becoming a movie
star. And every year, thousands of people let that dream die.
What you are considering pursuing is no small feat. Yet at the same time, it's
not impossible either. It is simply hard. Hollywood is very demanding, and those
who aren't willing to dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to it will be chewed up
and spit out with all the others who couldn't hack it.
But for those who commit themselves to chasing this dream until their dying day,
there are many rewards that potentially await them. Some find that pot of gold at
the end of the rainbow. Others spend their lives in cinematic purgatory, always
playing the same bit parts and wondering how they came up short.
A wise someone once said that "life's not fair", and that has been a mantra for
those who have been unwilling to put in the effort to drag themselves out of the
muck for centuries. The truth is that life's not unfair either. There is vast
opportunity out there, and the fact of the matter is that those who are willing
to put in the work for it will prosper.
Take Brad Pitt, for example.
In 1982, young Brad Pitt graduated from high school at the age of 18. His whole
life was already laid out for him. He would attend the University of Missouri, he
would major in journalism (with a focus on advertising), he would graduate, get
himself a decent marketing job, and work for the next 40 years until he retired.
And that's just what he set out to do.
However, somewhere along the way, Mr. Pitt seems to have lost sight of his goals.
For in 1986, when he was a mere 2 credits shy of graduating and making his family
proud, he made the seemingly irrational decision to drop out of college and
runoff to Hollywood.
Now prior to this, Brad had never expressed any interest in acting. Aside from a
play he once performed with his fraternity, Sigma Chi, no one knew of any passion
for drama that he might have possessed.
That spring, Brad packed his bags, hopped into his car, and with just $325.25 in
his pockets, he headed for California. He had virtually no acting experience and
zero training, but he decided that he simply loved movies so much that he just
couldn't settle for a normal life.
When he finally reached Los Angeles, he moved into a flat in North Hollywood with
eight other guys. They had no furniture and no beds to sleep in. Just a sleeping
bag for each of them, a TV, a stereo, and a toaster oven.
To pay their bills, the guys would go to a place called the Job Factory where
people would employ day laborers to do odd jobs. You think waiting tables is bad?
Brad's jobs included moving refrigerators, selling cigarettes, and once, he had
to dress up as a giant chicken and stand out on Sunset Blvd in 100 degree weather
for El Pollo Loco.
After getting an agent, Brad started booking small jobs like his stint on the
sit-com "Head Of The Class" and an episode of "Growing Pains". He also booked
other TV jobs on shows like "Another World" and "Dallas". But of course,
TV work does not lead to movie stardom. So how did he do it?
Well, like any other beginner actor, he started his movie career playing
uncredited bit parts. After playing 3 of these, he got his first supporting role
in the straight-to-video movie Cutting Class.
This movie was his first step up the ladder to fame and fortune. Though it was a
small movie, Brad Pitt did play a big principal part, which will do several good
things for your career that you'll learn about in future chapters.
Cutting Class opened new doors for young Brad Pitt, one of them leading to
an auditioning room for an upcoming movie called Thelma & Louise. He
played only a supporting role in this movie (a small-time thief named J.D.), but
upon its release, Brad was exposed to a whole new world.
It would be this role that would give his agent leverage in getting him
auditions. It was that role that would make big time filmmakers start making
him offers for their movies. And just a few months later, he got the lead in
his first big hit, A River Runs Through It.
With the credit of headlining a major studio film, Brad Pitt's salary
sky-rocketed from $6,000, which he was paid for Thelma & Louise, to
$500,000, which he was paid for Kalifornia, a film that was released 11
months after the huge success of A River Runs Through It.
At this point, most people would consider him a movie star. He had the fame from
his hit movie, he was making more money in a couple of months than 95% of everyone
makes in a year, and he had nowhere to go but up.
He was no longer auditioning for parts, the multi-million dollar offers for lead
roles were on the horizon, and he'd been labeled a hot new sex symbol. But it's
at that point that the difference between real movie stars and those who got
lucky get sorted out.