For a long time, Brad Pitt wasn't taken seriously as an "actor", and one of the impediments to this was his heartthrob looks, with even cult films like 'Fight Club' using this factor to their advantage. But post-2000s, we saw the actor in him grow, with roles coloured by various shades and temperaments. (Compiled by Sajin Shrijith)
While not the "main" character in Terrence Malick's polarising film, Brad Pitt's role as the ordinary middle-class working man father of Sean Penn's character, portrayed in flashbacks, demonstrated the serious actor in him.
To say that this Coen Bros dark comedy completely broke stereotypes would be an understatement. Populated with eccentric espionage agents, infidelity, missing intel, and dim-witted gym trainers, the film made some of the most good-looking actors "unrecognisable", most notably Pitt.
Quentin Tarantino gave Pitt one of the coolest characters of all time—someone with an incredible sense of humour and detachment. The scene where Pitt speaks Italian with an American accent, sans worry of the obviousness of it all, is gold!
Arguably the best example of utilising the actor's "Greek God" aspects, the film's portrayal of the fearless, glory-seeking warrior Achilles is one for the ages. Like in Basterds, it's a role which employed his physicality to good use, notably in the stunning battle sequences.
It's hard to find even a single likeable character in this film, with Pitt's memorably complex interpretation of the legendary Jesse James — the real-life bandit who was a subject of multiple books, movies, video games, comic books, and even songs — dominating them all.
You would think Pitt, as a tormented Jazz Age-era actor in Damien Chazelle's film, would play himself; however, despite the glitzy setting, the actor played 'Jack Conrad' as a stylish yet wounded personality grappling with declining popularity and impending silent-to-talkies transition.
In David Fincher's cult serial killer film, Pitt was a perfect fit as the hot-headed rookie cop paired up with Morgan Freeman's seasoned and world-weary senior cop, forced to confront a psychopath with a chilling agenda.
It's only fitting that this movie is placed alongside Se7en in this list, considering Fincher is going to direct a spin-off with Pitt playing 'Cliff Booth', a tough stuntman and Leonardo DiCaprio's loyal buddy with a mysterious past in Quentin Tarantino's original film.