Brad Pitt Clarifies If He’s Retiring

Brad Pitt sent an entire wave of headlines rolling out of Hollywood earlier this summer when he was quoted in an interview ruminating on the choices facing him in what he called the “last leg” or “last semester or trimester” of his acting career. The question of whether or not Brad Pitt is retiring from acting has been looming larger and larger, as his new film Bullet Train gets set for its big debut in theaters. It’s not surprising then that Pitt couldn’t get through the press tour for Bullet Train without having to revisit that quote about the possible end of this acting career… 

“I know, I really have to work on my phrasing,” Brad Pitt half-hoked to EW. “…I was just saying, you know, I’m, like, past middle age [and] I want to be specific how I spend those last bits, whenever they may be.”

If that is not a certain-enough answer for you, Pitt also straight-up answered a direct question about whether or not he’s retiring from acting soon with a resounding “No!”

Just as a reminder: When Brad Pitt spoke to GQ back in May, that “phrasing” he used sounded like this: “I consider myself on my last leg. This last semester or trimester. What is this section gonna be? And how do I wanna design that?”

In this latest interview, Pitt still insists that those existential questions he’s been asking himself at this age are still very much in play as he figures out the next stage of his career, saying he’s “never been a five-year plan kind of guy,” in terms of planning out his career. He’s still just looking for any project that “feels right.”

As we said at the time of his misphrased statement about retirement: at this point, Brad Pitt has turned his career into much more than just acting gigs. Through his Plan B Entertainment venture, Brad Pitt has become an Oscar-winning producer and executive producer (12 Years a Slave) – in addition to his Oscar win (and multiple nominations) for acting (Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood). 

These discussions about “retirement” always seemed pretty specious for a power-player icon whose immense influence behind-the-scenes could easily be a focus for the rest of his life. As of right now, thought, it sounds like we have quite a few good Brad Pitt roles left to go before he’s done… starting with Bullet Train, which is in theaters this weekend.