Brad Pitt took a few minutes with WWNO reporter Eileen Fleming to review the status of the Make it Right project he founded in the Lower Ninth Ward. Before hosting a fundraiser, he spent some time in the neighborhood.

For my meeting with Brad Pitt for a 15-minute interview, I drove as instructed to a nearly complete home in the Make it Right neighborhood in Lower Ninth Ward. Security allowed me in, and I was shown to an empty back room where Brad Pitt was sitting by himself, behind a bare, simple fold-out table.

Q. “It is nice and echo-y in here because this is a brand new…

A. “ They’re so air tight that, I mean, you can’t hear – Claiborne’s right there and you cannot, you can’t hear it.”

Read more. Notice the interview comes in two great parts. You can also download and listen to the audio version of both interviews, go check the BP Media archive for that!

The day before he hosted a star-studded fundraising event for his Make It Right Foundation in New Orleans, actor Brad Pitt took time for an interview with writer Kathy Finn, for a Reuters news story. In addition to comments that appeared in that story, Pitt shared other thoughts about affordable housing, Make It Right and New Orleans. Here are some highlights.

Q. You launched Make It Right in 2007 with a goal of building 150 energy-efficient, environmentally friendly houses for Lower Ninth Ward residents whose homes were destroyed in the Hurricane Katrina flood. You’ve now built more than 75 homes. How does it feel to see this progress?

A. We’ve been there four years now, so I’ve gotten to know and care for a lot of the people. It’s amazing, their heroics, their courage to come back to the scene of the crime, so to speak. It’s really moving. You hear their stories and what they’ve been through, and even the decades of being marginalized before [Katrina]. And now this place that was [seen as] the least likely to come back, is the foremost high-performance [environmentally sustainable] neighborhood in the country. It’s a story I get very excited about.

Read more.

Note. I know I am way late on everything, sorry about that guys.

He’s certainly in full steam ahead promotional mode, and Brad Pitt added another cover gig to his efforts by fronting the February 2012 issue of Backstage.

The 48-year-old big screen superstar spoke at length with the publication while beginning with his tale of falling in love with acting/storytelling and working through topics such as the auditioning experience and his take on whether he feels underrated as a thespian.

Highlights from Brad’s interview are as follows. For more, be sure to visit Backstage!

On when he first realized he wanted to be an actor:
“I grew up in Oklahoma and Missouri, and I just loved film. My folks would take us to the drive-in on summer nights, and we’d sit on the hood of the car. I just had this profound love for storytelling. I think it’s just an amazing thing we get to do. We are so complex, we are mysteries to ourselves, we are difficult to each other. And then here’s this storytelling that reminds us we are all the same. I consider it such a privilege.”

On whether he’s ever felt underrated as an actor:
“No. I thought I could always get there or make that turn as long as they let me stay in the game. Listen, I’ve been pretty fortunate. And if I’ve ever been underrated, it’s actually been something I’ve been able to work with; I can surprise people. It sets me up to exceed expectations, so I don’t mind.

Read more. Thanks Gabriella. Can anyone provide (HQ) scans please?

We sit in silent “Fiji” water in the Gulf of Mexico. Swim out and waving his children: “There is nothing that changes your life more than being a father. It’s such a wonderful change your life perspectives. Everything is relative. I would never trade youth for wisdom that I learn every day and go for it!”

He is considering a 50 step down from the canvas: “I want to realize many important projects.”

BILD: You have gray hair. Fear of old age?
“Grey I’m already long, I’m afraid of dying, but not before getting old.”

You can lead a normal life?
He laughs and itches his chin. “What is normal? You have to enjoy it. In New Orleans we can walk. I love the variety of noises and there to open a window and the feeling to hear the music. And to drink a beer on the balcony.”

They love Europe?
“Yes. Our fortress is our castle in France. Since we have our own protected world. A little paradise.”

Read more. Thanks Gabriella. Translation credit to Hefi!