Brad Pitt: Being With Angelina Jolie is a Natural Direction

Brad Pitt reveals just how much portraying the backwards-aging title character in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has colored his perspective on his varied life. Sitting down with the L.A. Times, Brad shares new insights:

On age versus youth: “Once you hit 40, you start reexamining the math of it all… I’ll trade wisdom for youth any day.”

On finding real love: “It’s a tragedy in the sense that any love involves loss, and that’s the risk you take. And the greater the love, the greater the loss. I certainly feel that now with the woman I’m with, and the children that I have. But whatever the course may be, this time together is extraordinary.”

On how being with Angelina Jolie changed his life: “I had a whole other life and I got to experience a lot. And I probably got away with more than I should. And it kind of ran its course, you know, it kind of hit a dead end. [Fatherhood is] the direction I always thought I would go in. But not until, with Angie and it felt like a natural evolution, a natural direction.”

On his work as an actor: “I don’t have to grope as much for the character… I can get there quicker, so it’s not as much trial and error. Also, as I get older, more experiences, I’m more fine-tuned in what I’m after, what I think speaks in the piece. And lastly I want to hurry and get home to my kids.”