Brad Pitt reveals he had suicidal thoughts over 'family stuff'

Brad Pitt has revealed that he once experienced suicidal thoughts over "family stuff".

The 62-year-old actor has revealed that for most of his life, he has been "a congenital optimist" and "never suicidal in any way".

However, there was "one little period" where he experienced suicidal ideation because he couldn't "see a way out" of that painful time.

"I've never been suicidal except for one little period. And in that one little period, I just thought - I just couldn't - just didn't see a way out," he candidly told Esquire. "The pain was so oppressive that - I wasn't going to act on this, but I could feel - I could feel the cold steel of the bullet in my head, and it felt like relief.

"And I thought, Oh, okay, now I understand - I understand suicide, in the sense that it's just relief. It's just looking for relief from the pain. But I also think we have incredible survival instincts. And for me, that immediately kicked in, but it was just..."

After a pause, the Fight Club actor added, "Yeah. Like, listen: This s**t ain't easy. And you're talking to a guy who won the lottery."

When asked by the reporter if he was referring to "kid stuff", he replied, "Family stuff... We could leave it at that."

Pitt was perhaps referring to his marriage to actress Angelina Jolie. They split in 2016 after more than 10 years together and two years of marriage. They were declared legally single in 2019, but are still locked in a legal battle over their French winery.

The former couple share six children - Maddox, 24, Pax, 22, Zahara, 21, Shiloh, 20, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 18.

Four of the children - Maddox, Zahara, Shiloh and Vivienne - have filed legal paperwork to drop "Pitt" from their surname, Jolie-Pitt.

Shiloh legally changed her name to Shiloh Jolie in 2024, while the other three cases are still pending.

When asked how he got out of that dark period, Pitt replied, "Maybe we've got to start with letting go of all control, that need, that belief about the way things should be or what should have been or how things are supposed to be and then trying to control it, trying to hammer and tong it into some kind of shape, which is impossible.

"Maybe that's really the road to waking up and the sun's a little brighter one day and the air's a little sweeter. And that in itself is acceptance, I would say."