brad pitt pics

Brad Pitt & Julia Roberts

The world's sexiest stars square off toe to toe — and cheek to cheek — in The Mexican.

by Agent 9999

Not exactly the kind of pairing between beautiful people that fans might have imagined, The Mexican teams Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts as Jerry and Samantha, a couple at odds as much as they're in love. But the two stars, interviewed separately in Los Angeles' Beverly Wilshire Hotel, make it quite clear that they're relishing this chance to subvert, confound, and perplex.

That's one reason why The Mexican — a romantic-comedy-heist-film that wends its way from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and Mexico in pursuit of a cursed antique silver pistol — cost "only" $35 million. It's a sum, director Gore Verbinski proudly points out, that is the usual combined salary of the two stars. For Pitt, making the picture in the isolated Mexican village of Real De Catorce was a welcome, if rugged, escape from fame. For her part, Roberts was a little less enamored with the accommodations.

A jovial Pitt, who, in his long-sleeved T-shirt and slacks, looked like he was ready to mow the lawn at the behest of his new wife, Jennifer Aniston, sat down first to talk with Mr. Showbiz. Roberts, in a Southwestern-influenced, embroidered orange leather jacket, entered as Pitt spoke about their upcoming teaming on Ocean's Eleven. "What movie are you here for anyway?" she asked in mock outrage. "Erin Brockovich," replied Pitt, teasing her about her Oscar nomination. During her interview, Roberts gave as good as she got, often turning the tables and generally acting like, well, more like a director than a star.

Do you think that Jerry, the guy you play in The Mexican, is a blithering idiot or what?

I call him the anti-McQueen because there is nothing cool about him. But he's earnest and he tries and he's got a good heart. But very defensive. Yes, he's a chump.

You keep playing skuzzy characters.

Yeah, Fight Club was skuzzy. Snatch was definitely skuzzy, but they lived in trailer parks, so there was no way around that.

Are you trying to play against your looks?

No. No, it's not as calculated as that. It's just foraging through other areas trying to find something that I haven't done before, something interesting. If I'm going to do the part, what can I bring to it that someone else wouldn't? I mean, there are so many good actors out there, and to find something unique is more difficult and more challenging, but also more rewarding.

Director Gore Verbinski called you the coolest person on Earth.

Oh, he's being very kind.

That's what you're up against.

Yeah, but listen, I don't have it all together, all right? I've got my foibles. I'm not going into any details.

Are you cooler than James Gandolfini?

He's the man. I love Gandolfini. Me and Julia [Roberts] are going to start the Church of Gandolfini. I love The Sopranos. I'm still pissed off that we have to wait so long for the next season.

You and Julia had been trying to work together for a long time.

This one came out of nowhere, and the idea of us jumping into this kind of low-budget, gonzo, hit-and-run film just kind of appealed to us both.

When did you first meet her?

Oh, decades ago, we say. I can't remember where.

You yell at each other a lot here.

[Laughs] Yeah, and she's tough too. Man, she's tough. It was kind of an automatic for us — just because of the friendship, and just the idea of being in a romantic comedy where we get to go at each other's throats is pretty good stuff. It's that kind of the Hepburn-Tracy thing that they used to do so well.

How were the conditions in Mexico?

They were great. I mean, there are things that you have to get used to, like the burros outside your window at 3 in the morning. And, you know, there were always the scorpion checks. You check your shoes every morning. Check your clothes in the house. And someone got [stung] from one in a towel. You check your sheets before you get into bed.

Where did you stay?

I lived in someone's house. It was this great place. They only had one phone line in the whole town and you're sequestered up at the top of this mountain.

How many phones by the time you left?

Oh, we pretty much wiped out their culture, as a true American will. [Laughs] I think that they're all online because we brought in computers and fax lines and modems. They're all on eBay now.

You just finished Robert Redford's Spy Game in Morocco. How does it compare to Mexico?

Now, Mexico is romantic, but Morocco has got this romantic image and I don't know how they got away with that one.

What happened?

Not anything scary, but just little things. Like [people] pooping in the street and this kind of thing that as a Westerner, I didn't adhere to.

How did you like working with Redford?

Yeah, that was cool. You know, we worked together before when I started out [on A River Runs Through It] and I was a little nervous, a little green. I was with The Man! And with this one, I figured, "Well, this is cool, I'll be able to sit down, swap stories, ideas, eye to eye." And as soon as I got there, I turned into a little kid again.

Would you like to pattern your career after his?

There is a guy who has directed and starred in some of our greatest films, top-of-the-mountain films. So yeah, in that aspect, absolutely, but I'd like to, as he would, find my own niche. I want to find my own thing instead of emulating someone else. I mean, that's been my focus.

What do you think you would be doing if you weren't an actor?

I would be building.

Like a construction worker?

No, not construction, architecture. Yeah, I'm going to revamp L.A. architecture. I am, I'm serious. This is an amazing city with amazing architecture. [But] after [architect Richard] Neutra, it just dropped off. … You see what they're doing on Hollywood Boulevard, it's all built around commercialism. That's all right, but you can put some great design in there and you can evolve the architecture of the place, instead of building strip malls everywhere. I get angry, I get emotional.

Are you going to build something on your own?

Yes, I am. I did some experiments two years ago. I took a year off, and I did some experiments on redoing two places, and I think that they're quite good. I was just playing with an evolution of modernism with old-world materials, which keep it warm — if that's interesting at all. But that's what I would be doing [if I weren't acting]. And that's probably what I will be doing.

You must be handy around the house.

Oh no, because I'm a bit of a snob that way. Yeah, I'm a bit of a snob. But I'm good at directing. [Laughs]

So, what's married life with Jennifer Aniston like?

Married life is fantastic.

How has it changed your life?

I'll tell you what I wasn't prepared for. I mean, we have our ideas of marriage, but the thing that surprised me is this pride that I have now when I look across at this woman, that we're embarking on this journey together. It's not something that I can articulate well, but it's really exciting. I've never done anything like it and have never experienced anything like it.

What do you think about the Tom and Nicole breakup?

Well, listen, I'm not one of those proponents of happily ever after. I mean, some relationships run their course. If you think about it, technically, every relationship that you've been in until the one that you're in right now has been a failure, right? They didn't work out. But maybe they weren't failures, because they ran their course and prepared you for the next one. Or maybe you get stuck in a pattern. So, maybe relationships are meant to be done. It's all right with me; I mean, whatever they want to do.

You know how that can sound?

I know that it can come off as unromantic. I believe in big romance. It's just that these misconceptions of what it should be, it's dangerous. It's like prom night misconceptions of it supposedly being the greatest night of your life. It's putting too much on the things when you should let it be what it is and finding the beauty in that.

The Mexican asks when enough is enough.

There are a lot of outs. If you want to find an out, you can find an out. You know, no one said that it's going to be easy, but if you can get past egos and your issues with being right and get back to what's there, you should never leave.

Any children down the line for you two?

Oh, I'm sure that we're in negotiations. [Laughs]

There was much ado about the big wedding.

Yeah. It was interesting but it wasn't big.

Expensive, then. Why was there only one photo?

We promised that we would release one, just a quick little digital photo, as we were walking out [of the ceremony]. It's one of those deals where it was click, click, click and, "OK, we're done."

It was reported that in your vows you promised to lower the thermostat and she promised to make you banana milkshakes.

That was wrong. It was a misinterpretation.

What's the truth?

I will leave it a mystery.

Will you be on Friends this season?

That's another vicious rumor that started in the commissary. I have no idea where that came from. There have been no talks, but I am open to it.

How do you balance both career and personal life?

We're pursuing a relationship first.

What's up with Ocean's Eleven?

Ocean's Eleven is cool. My guy is Dusty Ryan, that's his name. Or, at least, I think so, I have to look at the script. This is an idea that [Steven] Soderbergh and [George] Clooney had. They asked, "Why aren't there films like The Great Escape and Bridge Over the River Kwai, where all these guys showed up and did a film? It's almost logistically impossible with people's schedules, people's deals. On this one, they assembled this great cast and people made their [salary] cuts and everything to go and do this thing.

Do you get to be cool in this one?

I get to be Anti-Jerry in this one.

Would you ever like to direct?

No, not really. I don't have any plans to do that. It's a daunting job. But who knows?

Would you ever direct Jennifer?

[Laughs] I direct her daily and she does the set.