A Brad Pitt Guide to Navigating Hollywood
Blue-eyed, scruffy, and hovering around six foot, Brad Pitt is instantly recognizable as a Hollywood pinup man. He’s a household name and a household face: our Mr. Smith (Mr. & Mrs. Smith), our Aldo Raine (Inglourious Basterds), and most recently, our Cliff Booth (Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood). His good looks and charm have solidified his status as not only a leading man onscreen but a permanent fixture in American entertainment culture, the subject of countless celebrity news stories and the cover for numerous editions of GQ, Variety, and the like.
But if Brad Pitt only goes down in history for his acting and charisma, the universe will have made a significant error. The bulk of his legacy occurs, surprisingly, off of the big screen.
In November of 2001, Pitt co-founded a production company with his then-wife Jennifer Aniston and future Paramount CEO Brad Grey. The company was called Plan B Entertainment Holdings, LLC. While this name may not register immediately for some, Plan B’s impact on cinema speaks for itself. The company produced three Best Picture winners at the Oscars as well as five more films nominated for the same award. A laundry list of actors, writers, directors, editors, and costume designers attached to Plan B films have dominated both indie and mainstream awards circuits over the course of the company’s nearly 20-year history. The company is established, the company is respected, and the company doesn’t appear to be losing momentum in its trajectory.
A closer look at Plan B, however, reveals something curious. The accolades mentioned previously are not being earned by the low-risk, whitewashed, formulaic films one might expect. No, these accolades are being earned by voices and material that are positively rare in the Hollywood landscape: Barry Jenkins for Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk. Lupita Nyong’o for 12 Years a Slave. Bong Joon-Ho for Okja. Jonathan Majors for The Last Black Man in San Francisco. Plan B is backing creatives that other studios wouldn’t go out on a limb for, giving support to those who may otherwise struggle to find it. By proxy, Brad Pitt is investing his time, money, and passion into the projects of marginalized individuals, helping their work get the exposure and acclaim it deserves.
According to Jeremy Kleiner, current co-president of Plan B, Pitt doesn’t maintain the profit-centered mindset that is pervasive among film executives. Pitt uses his resources not to churn out high-performing hits at the box office, but to give care and attention to the type of storytelling that fascinates him.
“Brad Pitt has encouraged a culture of…watching and trying to understand what an artist is doing and what they want to say. If you’re inspired by something…follow the curiosity and see where it takes you,” Kleiner said. “That philosophy has led us to some very interesting people and their films.”
And Pitt is doing this quietly. When Moonlight received the Academy Award for Best Picture, Brad was famously eating spaghetti many miles away from the Staples Center, seeing no need to walk across the Oscars stage and be praised. When Brad is interviewed for cover stories and features, he doesn’t claim to be some champion of minorities, some savior figure to the underrepresented. He’s excited about the films he produces, but he expresses this excitement in a way that keeps the spotlight firmly fixated on someone else.
Consequently, the Brad Pitt Model — advocating for diversity and inclusion in film through decisive yet private action — illuminates the flaws of other actors and celebrities who are so-called “using their platform” to make a difference. While there is something to be said for awareness and solidarity, simply making a speech or a post about industry shortcomings is no longer a valid path to change. Public outcries about equality for women in film, or racial minorities in film, or independently funded creators in film, aren’t valuable if they aren’t backed up by equally enthusiastic physical support. They may even read as a cheap and opportunistic grab for attention.
Amid the grand gestures that ultimately amount to nothing, however, there is at least one person who is doing it right. That person is Brad Pitt. By letting his actions speak louder than his words, and by backing unique projects through Plan B Entertainment instead of through showy claims and social media declarations, Pitt has been able to actually help diverse projects get made. He has supported films that inspire and captivate him, not just ones with money-making potential, and the world is better for it.
But Pitt wouldn’t want this sort of credit; he’s too busy eating his spaghetti.
by Hannah Wong
