PITT STOP! - by

What on earth is going on with Brad Pitt? First, Cool World was due to hit our screens, then it was put back and now there am three of Brad’s flicks sitting on a shelf somewhere. Let’s hope it’s just a little...

Brad recently finished filming A River Runs Through It and although he’s been working very hard, none of his efforts will be on our screens for ages yet. Not that Brad’s worried, though - in fact, he’s already thinking of his next project. "My next film will be a little darker and a little dirtier," he laughs. "I feel it’s important to make sure that he characters are all different - I don’t like to be stuck in a corner before I see what I’m strongest at."

Over the last year, Brad has followed in his heroes footsteps in a big way, starring in movies like Thelma And Louise and Cool World alongside some of Hollywood’s sexiest females! So, has he any juicy gossip he wants to share with TV HITS? "Um, Susan Sarandon, she’s a strong woman that I completely respect she’s like Shut up and get over here, ya know. and then there’s Geena Davis, she’s very sweet." Hmph, that’s not very juicy, Brad – can’t you do better? "Well, I only spent a few weeks with these people but my opinions of them are really high. I didn’t get to know Kim Basinger at all - in Cool World she was just an animation for most of the time so she wasn’t there much."

That’s probably just as well as Brad’s love scenes are a constant embarrassment to him! You’ve got loads of people staring at you and you’re running around in a Iittle whatever! I got round it by playing music," he says, raising his eyebrows. "That’s really the key - listen to some tunes!" However, knowing that his family would see his bare bottom in Thelma And Louise still caused him a few sleepless nights! "I thought My mom’s going to see this! That’s what I thought. I remember the night before, It hit me. thought Oh my God, what have I got into! And then there I was, checking myself in the mirror!" Up until now, Brad didn’t have the chance to work with his long-time love Juliette Lewis. The pair met on the set of a TV movie called Too Young To Die a couple of years ago but have just finished filming the comedy Kalifornia, which Brad thoroughly enjoyed. "I respect Juliette’s acting so much – she’s one of the best I’ve seen." But wasn’t he worried about dating an actress? "Well, the classic story is never date an actress, right? Juliette’s the exception to the rule. I like dating real people and fellow acting people and I can say Yeah, I like it or, Nah, I don’t like it, It’s cool."

However, filming A River Runs Through It was even more fun than Kalifornia as Brad got to go back to nature for a while, re-living his childhood in Missouri which is in one of America’s most beautiful areas. "We filmed it in Montana and the place was amazing. I got to camp out!" he squeals. "We were filming two hours away from the town where we were staying so, instead of driving out every day, I pitched a tent by the river and I camped for a whole week. It was a big deal for me - steal some food from the set, go home, then make a fire and crawl into my tent, then get up and go to work!"

Although all this larking around, spending a night under a blanket of stars and being at one with nature was good fun, Brad still thought he needed a bit of a break from Hollywood so, while Juliette was filming the new Woody Allen film Husbands And Wives, he headed oft to Amsterdam for a while. "I was feeling drained and empty and I kind of wanted to fill up again," he moans. "I wanted to relax, to be in a bunch of different places because there are whole different worlds going on wherever you go." But why Amsterdam, not good old London Town, or even the sun-drenched beaches of Lanzarote? "Hmm, I chose Amsterdam because of the city, the canals, the bicycles - I love bicycles," he says enthusiastically. "It had a little New York feel to it. I stayed for two and a half months. I got an old bicycle and just rode around every day."

Bicycles aren’t Brad’s only love, of course -ever since he was a babe in arms, he’s loved movies. His dad’s favourites were classics like Midnight Cowboy (an ancient Dustin Hoffman film) and Ordinary People. "These kinda films meant something to me. I remember Robert Redford and Paul Newman were big in my family just because of the kind of movies they stood for," he smiles. "My dad was a fan of them because they stood up for their beliefs and all that stuff," he smiles.

In fact, Brad rates slightly, erm, shall we say uglier actors instead of the usual hunky-types as his faves. "I think Dustin Hoffman and so on are the guys that last. I mean, you may say they have ugly faces, but they’ve become beautiful because they’re real. Jack Nicholson, John Malkovich and these people are lovely. I think these people last. Pretty boys, will they last? Not at the rate they’re going. Before 90210 it was New Kids On The Block. It’s always something, right?" Um, right, but doesn’t he think of himself as a pretty face? "No, my ambition is to last. 1 mean, It’s hard to get started but It’s even harder to stick around." Well, as soon as those missing movies appear, there’ll be no chance anyone will forget him!