Angelina Jolie Pitt called the shots while directing husband Brad Pitt in By the Sea – and the star says that’s just the way he likes it.
When asked whether he has any desire to turn the tables and direct his wife in the future, Pitt was forthright in his response.
“No, I have no desire,” Pitt told reporters Thursday in Hollywood at the world premiere gala screening at AFI Fest 2015 presented by Audi. “I’d rather work for her.”
The film stars Pitt, 51, and Jolie Pitt, 40, as a couple stuck in a troubled marriage. Although the pair seem far from troubled in real life – appearing close and loving at the premiere and at the WSJ Magazine 2015 Innovator Awards the previous evening – the couple are the first to admit their marriage isn’t perfect, and that’s okay.
“I think, for me, it’s just that the road is long, and it’s worth fighting for,” he said. “The dividends worth fighting for instead of jumping ship is more profound than any beginning, any kind of new romance.”
Jolie Pitt, meanwhile, told PEOPLE on the red carpet how she and Pitt handle inevitable disagreements.
By the Sea
Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt’s ‘By the Sea’ Opens AFI Fest
AFI Fest kicked off its annual week of big screen programming at the TCL Chinese Theatre with Thursday night’s world premiere of Angelina Jolie Pitt’s ode to 1970s European art house cinema, “By the Sea,” a lugubrious, slow-moving account of marital strife at a palatial seaside resort on the Maltese coast.
Jolie Pitt, who also wrote, directed and produced the Universal drama, plays a melancholic, pill-popping dancer past her prime opposite husband-producer Brad Pitt, who plays an alcoholic novelist battling writers block.
The movie — lensed during the couple’s honeymoon in Aug. 2014 — was a draw for media, Oscar forecasters and industry folk alike (Gena Rowlands was in attendance), who flocked to see the unfathomably glamorous couple, who turned the event into a makeshift “date night.” This is the first time the Pitts have reunited onscreen since their romance blossomed on the set of 2005’s “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”
“By the Sea,” said Jolie Pitt, was a study of “grief and loss,” a theme influenced and inspired by the 2007 death of her mother, actress and producer Marcheline Bertrand.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt on Filming a Troubled Marriage
“That this became our honeymoon is just f—ing funny.”
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are making the rounds promoting their upcoming film together, By the Sea, which opens on Nov. 13. The film focuses on a marriage in crisis and not only stars Jolie Pitt; it was written and directed by her, too.
Jolie Pitt said it was challenging to play a troubled couple with her new husband. “It was not easy,” she said in an interview with WSJ. Magazine. “We just had to be brave and say, ‘OK, honey, we’re strong enough to do this; let’s somehow use this to make us stronger.’ “
The actress is on the cover of the WSJ. Magazine November issue, which hits newsstands on Saturday. She said that she and Pitt “had to stay in our corners, like boxers, and not be husband and wife.” She added, “It was very hard to do those scenes without Brad and I taking care of each other. Normally in between takes, you’d make sure that the other’s OK, but we had to be able to really get ugly.”
Pitt also was interviewed for the publication, and he talked about what it was like having his wife as his director. “Being a couple, we have that shorthand that can be communicated in a look. Conversely, it means I knew immediately if she felt a take stunk.”
By the Sea screening NYC
All eyes were on Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt at the screening of their new movie, By the Sea, at City Cinemas in NYC on Tuesday. The couple, who secretly tied the knot in 2014, looked completely smitten with each other on their big night, exchanging sweet glances and beaming with happiness. At one point, Angelina even stopped to sign autographs for fans on the street before she and Brad made their way to their car. Earlier in the day, the power couple was spotted shopping with their twins, Knox and Vivienne, at a local Barnes and Noble bookstore.
Angelina and Brad proved that they were the ultimate definition of #RelationshipGoals recently when they showed unwavering support for each other in a rare joint interview, where they discussed their working relationship and Angelina’s preventative double mastectomy, which she underwent in 2013. In addition to their interview, Brad and Angelina also grace the cover of Vogue’s November issue with their six kids. Keep reading to see their latest snaps, then check out the trailer for By the Sea, which hits theaters on Nov. 13.
The Today Show
Rumors, begone. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are one of Hollywood’s most talked-about couples, but the pair have one thing in common that goes without saying: an unwavering love and respect for one another.
In a rare joint interview set to air Monday, Nov. 2, the couple, who secretly tied the knot in France in August 2014, sat down with NBC’s Tom Brokaw to open up about their life as a married couple.
Asked how he felt when Jolie, 40, had to undergo a surgery to remove her ovaries earlier this year, Pitt, 51, said he was behind the actress’ choice 100 percent.
“Whatever’s got to be done to keep the family together, and keep the family together as long as possible is gonna be done,” the Moneyball actor said. “This was her charge, no question. It’s a scary decision. There’s many things that can go wrong and go many different directions.”
Jolie opted to remove her ovaries two years after going public with her decision to get a preventive double mastectomy in 2013. But despite her own nervousness, she said she knew she could count on Pitt to keep her afloat.
“I knew through the surgeries that [Pitt] was on my side and that this wasn’t something where I was going to feel less of a woman, because my husband wasn’t going to let that happen,” she said.
• x002 The Today Show (11/02/15). Thanks Vaska.
