William Bradley Pitt (1963– ) has carried many descriptions through the years: sexy, grounded, magnetic. At his center he has always been a storyteller searching for truth. Director Gore Verbinski once called him “the coolest person on earth,” yet Pitt often softens that kind of praise, choosing humility and the long, steady path of growth.

Born in Shawnee, Oklahoma and raised in Springfield, Missouri, Pitt left college just shy of a journalism degree and followed a quiet pull of the heart: go where the stories live. Before the fame and before the awards, he worked an assortment of small jobs, including a stretch dressed as a giant El Pollo Loco chicken, “clucking” customers into the restaurant. He shares that memory with an easy grin, a reminder that beginnings may not shine, yet they are always meaningful.

His early acting roles on television in Head of the Class (1986) and 21 Jump Street (1987) opened a small door that soon widened. His brief turn as J.D. in Thelma & Louise (1991) made audiences sit up and ask: Who is that? Yet it was A River Runs Through It (1992), directed by Robert Redford, that revealed the depth beneath the cheekbones: something tenderly aching.

From there came a sweep of memorable work: Interview with the Vampire (with Tom Cruise, 1994), Legends of the Fall (1994), and his Golden Globe–winning role in 12 Monkeys (with Bruce Willis, 1995). Even as Hollywood crowned him “the sexiest man alive,” Pitt let the shine fall away. “A friend of mine said they misspelled it. It was supposed to be ‘sexiest moron,’” he joked, a gentle way of keeping his feet on the ground.

What has shaped Pitt’s path is not only the roles but the shift inside. His later films— Babel, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Moneyball, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood— reveal a man listening more deeply, choosing stories that explore what it means to be human. Behind the camera he has supported films about justice, race, and resilience with a steady, deliberate hand.

Beyond Hollywood, compassion widened into action. After Hurricane Katrina, he helped create the Make It Right Foundation, bringing new attention to New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward and the families rebuilding their lives. “We’re just scratching the surface,” he said in 2009. The work was imperfect and hopeful, anchored in a simple belief: every community deserves dignity.

In recent years, Pitt has spoken with clarity about healing, sobriety, creativity, and the slow, lifelong practice of becoming who you truly are. His honesty has made him more beloved, not less. The spotlight may follow him, but his compass has turned inward, toward truth, toward growth, toward being a better man today than he was yesterday.

You are golden. Trust your heart. ✨