During an interview with CNN, the 'Ad Astra' actor further opens up about what he learned about himself when he finally decided to facing his emotions without booze.
- September 20, 2019
AceShowbiz - Brad Pitt relied on alcohol to cope with his painful split from Angelina Jolie.
Reflecting on the difficult time after he and the actress, who he shares six children with, decided to end their marriage in 2016, the actor confesses he went down a dark path and engaged in some self-destructive behaviour.
"What I realized is that I was running to avoid tough feelings, painful feelings," he tells CNN. "I just didn't know how to deal with them. Anything I found that I used for escape... Those kinds of difficult feelings, I don't know how better to describe it. It can be anything - drugs, booze, Netflix, snacks. Anything. I don't want, at this point, to be running from anything."
These days the star, who is hearing Oscars buzz for his roles in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" and "Ad Astra", has learned to face his emotions without booze.
"I want to sit in it, I want to feel it, I want to get through the rough night," he shares. "I found, in doing so, you come out the other side with a more profound understanding of yourself and a greater gratefulness of those in your life. And the birds and the trees and everything else."
Pitt previously opened up about joining Alcoholics Anonymous for a few meetings and how the organization helped him turn his life around.
"You had all these men sitting around being open and honest in a way I have never heard," he told The New York Times. "It was this safe space where there was little judgment, and therefore little judgment of yourself... It was actually really freeing just to expose the ugly sides of yourself. There's great value in that."
