Brad Pitt is pulling back the curtain on his personal journey to sobriety, revealing raw and honest details about his recovery experience during a candid chat on Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard — himself a fellow recovering addict.
“I Was on My Knees”
The Oscar-winning actor recalled the emotional rock bottom that led him to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) following his 2016 split from Angelina Jolie.
“I was pretty much on my back, on my knees. I was really open. I was trying anything anyone threw at me,” Pitt admitted. “It was a particularly difficult time. I needed rebooting. I needed to wake the f**k up in some areas.”
Dax Shepard, who has long been open about his own battles with addiction, responded:
“You don’t come into AA because everything’s working out fantastic.”
To which Pitt agreed:
“No. That’s usually not the entry point.”
“It’s Not the Winner’s Club”
Both men laughed about how far someone usually has to fall before they’re ready to walk into a room full of strangers and talk about emotions.
“Your hair has gotta be on fire before you go like, ‘Yeah, I’ll go hang with a bunch of dudes and talk about emotions,’” Shepard joked.
Pitt, 60, said he removed his “drinking privileges” after realizing he had reached his limit:
“I had taken things as far as I could take it,” he told The New York Times back in 2019.
Learning to Own His Mistakes
During the podcast, Pitt described himself as a “stubborn fk”** but also someone who takes responsibility when he messes up:
“When I’ve stepped in s**t, I’m pretty good at taking responsibility for it and owning up to it… Now it’s a quest to what can I do with this, and how can I right this and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Be better. Step up.”
He added that he found healing in the honesty of his fellow AA members:
“It became a thing for me, something I looked forward to.”
What’s Next: F1: The Movie
Brad Pitt returns to the big screen this summer in F1: The Movie, where he plays a seasoned race car driver making a comeback in the world of Formula 1. The high-octane film is set to premiere in theaters June 27.
With his personal growth echoing through his current projects, Pitt’s story serves as a powerful reminder that even Hollywood legends can start over—and come back stronger.
