Brad Pitt Reveals Why He Went 20 Years Without Crying

It’s Brad Pitt’s party and he’ll repress his emotions if he wants to. 

The actor revealed he kept the tears turned off for 20 years and is “quite famously a not-crier” in a conversation with his “Legends of the Fall” co-star Anthony Hopkins for Interview magazine.

“I hadn’t cried in, like, 20 years, and now I find myself, at this latter stage, much more moved — moved by my kids, moved by friends, moved by the news,” Pitt explained. “Just moved. I think it’s a good sign. I don’t know where it’s going, but I think it’s a good sign.”

The “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” star, of course, shares six children ― Maddox, 18; Pax, 16; Zahara, 14; Shiloh, 13; and twins Knox and Vivienne, 11 ― with his ex-wife Angelina Jolie. The couple split in 2016 after two years of marriage. 

These days, Pitt said he isn’t afraid of a good old-fashioned sobbing session ― be it at his sculpting studio or when he’s decidedly not dating Alia Shawkat ― now that he’s “able to witness the beauty and the wonder that we’re surrounded by in every minute detail.”

“We miss that when we’re young,” he added. 

At this stage in his life, Pitt says he’s “still wrestling” with blame, apparently referring to his struggle with substance abuse amid his breakup with Jolie. 

Pitt previously revealed he stopped drinking altogether and found solace in Alcoholics Anonymous group meetings during his highly publicized divorce. 

“I’m realizing, as a real act of forgiveness for myself for all the choices that I’ve made that I’m not proud of, that I value those missteps, because they led to some wisdom, which led to something else,” Pitt explained. 

Instead of dwelling on his mistakes, the actor said he’s committed to trying to better himself through acceptance of his flaws. 

“We’re living in a time where we’re extremely judgmental and quick to treat people as disposable,” he said. “We’ve always placed great importance on the mistake. But the next move, what you do after the mistake, is what really defines a person.”

Back in 2017, Pitt described his split with Jolie as a “huge generator for change” in his life that forced him to take stock of his bad habits. 

“I’m really, really happy to be done with all of that,” he said, referring to his abuse of drugs and alcohol. “I stopped everything except boozing when I started my family. But even this last year, you know — things I wasn’t dealing with. I was boozing too much. It’s just become a problem. And I’m really happy it’s been half a year now, which is bittersweet, but I’ve got my feelings in my fingertips again.”