Why Brad Pitt Is Doing Less Acting These Days

brad pitt in world war z 2

Brad Pitt is joining the ranks of veteran actors who are foregoing acting gigs to take on new roles on the producing side of filmmaking. In the past months, he's seen his private life bared to the public as he went through a divorce with his wife Angelina Jolie. And while he's set to premiere in the upcoming Netflix vehicle War Machine, gone are the days when the actor would film a slew of movies each year. Instead, the actor has gotten more into the producing end of filmmaking, and he recently explained why, noting,

I feel myself as I'm older gravitating more to the producing side than being in front of the camera. It's a big commitment, a film, and it does take you away from your family. I just have to balance that. It's not less important, itself, it's just not as important as family.

There are a few things in life that give people a reason to recalibrate. One of those is getting a divorce, and potentially getting fewer opportunities to spend time with your kids. Another is getting sober, which often leads people to rethink how they choose to spend their time. It was only recently that Brad Pitt revealed he is sober, and it was only a short time before that reveal that Pitt's divorce from Angelina Jolie was finalized. It's no wonder that he's taking a look at his career choices and the way he spends his time.

Brad Pitt went on to tell talk to the AP about his upcoming subscription streaming service movie War Machine, which he both acts in and produces. But he says he wanted to step in front of the camera for this one, both because of the cost compared to a traditional Netflix project and because he wanted to talk about the pain and pressures of war without taking shots at specific people working in high-ranking political positions right now. Here's what he has to say about the upcoming gig:

The degree of difficulty on this one was ten, which is what makes it worth it for me to go get in front of the camera now.

War Machine has already released a couple of trailers, and the absurd comedy set to hit Netflix on Friday, May 26 at 12:01 a.m. PT. Beyond that, it's hard to tell when we'll see Brad Pitt in a movie again, although he will reportedly be in Ad Astra and World War Z 2 when those eventually come out. On the bright side, his name will be in the producer credits on Lewis and Clark, Okja, Beautiful Boy, Brad's Status and many more. To find out what all is headed to Netflix in the coming months, take a look at our full Netflix premiere schedule.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.