Do you know this gentleman Learn English through story level 2
brad pitt
by nancy taylor
chapter one
where did he come from
brad was born in oklahoma on december 18
he has his father’s name
william bradley pitt
but everybody always called him brad
the family moved to springfield missouri
when brad was a baby
his parents and his brother and sister
all live in springfield today
brad loves his parents and listens to
them
he built a house near springfield
and goes there often
when brad was a child his parents helped
him in many ways
they worked hard and took the children
to church every sunday
mr pitt also took his sons and daughter
on trips with him
in their school vacations
the children loved these trips and had a
wonderful time with their dad
brad remembers an important tennis game
when he was young
he got really angry
he shouted and kicked the ball
his father asked him about tennis
is this fun for you
brad shouted
no
it isn’t
brad’s father looked at him
and said
then don’t do it
brad learned a big lesson from this
conversation with his dad
he thinks about it when he does new
things in his life
at school
brad was interested in everything
music
sports
theater
writing
and girls
he was one of many nice intelligent
teenagers
at kickapoo high school
his future looked good
but not very exciting
but his brother says that brad was
always
different
one difference
was
the brief boys
brad and three other boys in his high
school
sang funny songs
and they didn’t wear their shirts or
jeans
the girls loved brad without his shirt
he had a friendly smile
wonderful blue eyes
and a beautiful body
brad’s life was also different because
girls followed him everywhere
his first serious love
was sarah hart
a girl from a different high school
after he met her
he wrote her a note in the snow outside
of her house
the note said
hi sarah
in big letters
they dated for a long time in high
school
but they never planned to marry
they saw a great big world out there for
them
brad got some of his ideas about a
bigger world from movies
and music
in the 1960s
he liked planet of the apes
and
butch cassidy and the sundance kid
in the 1970s one of his favorite movies
was saturday night fever
he liked it because it showed a faster
dirtier and more exciting world than
springfield
he liked good movies with strong stories
and strong acting
he didn’t plan to be an actor when he
was a teenager
but movies put new ideas in his head
chapter 2
college days
after high school brad’s next stop was
the university of missouri
his dad gave him an old car
and brad drove the 240 kilometers to the
university in september 1982.
again brad was a good student
but he says that his favorite class at
college was
fun
in his first year at college
brad and some friends were in a show
the money from the tickets was for sick
children
the boys sang and danced
then they took off their clothes
the theater was full
there were girls on every chair
on the floor
and on the stairs
they wanted to see brad pitt without any
clothes
brad smiled
this was fun
brad was serious sometimes too
he thought about the lessons from church
but he stopped going there every sunday
he felt sad
because church was important to his
family
but brad was ready for some different
ideas
one evening
brad and some college friends were in
his old car
they had a serious accident
the top of the car came off
but brad and his friends were okay
after the accident
brad thought carefully about his future
from that day
he planned his life
brad’s life changed again two weeks
before the end of his classes at the
university of missouri
he walked out
he didn’t finish his classes
and he didn’t write his last two papers
he learned a lot of things in four years
at college
but now he wanted to learn about real
life
brad put his things in his car
and he left college with 325
dollars
he didn’t want a job in an office
and he didn’t want to feel bored
he was 22 years old
and ready for life in the big world
he left missouri
and drove west
to hollywood
he planned to be an actor in one year
chapter three
a different america
the drive across america was fun for
brad
at each new state he got more and more
excited
he was on his way to hollywood
but in los angeles
brad went into a mcdonald’s hamburger
place and thought
is this it
nothing looked exciting or different
was he in the wrong place
we know that this was the right place
for brad
slowly he started to understand
hollywood
he worked at his first jobs for very
little money
he drove a car for dancers
he sold things by telephone
he gave away free cigarettes to people
on the street
but his favorite job
was his first
acting job
he was the big yellow chicken for the
polo loco restaurant
he stood outside of the restaurant and
jumped up and down
he had fun and got nine dollars an hour
for his
acting
brad paid for food for acting lessons
and for an apartment
he lived with seven other young men
brad said
there were two of us in the back room
two in the other little room
four in the living room
no beds or chairs
we had a telephone
a bathroom
and a little kitchen
we slept on the floor
brad worked hard with his acting teacher
for months
then he got a very small role in a tv
program
in his first role he didn’t say anything
in his second he said one word
he called his parents when he got his
first important role
on one of the biggest programs in the
1980s
dallas
he told them
i’m not a student here in los angeles
i’m an actor
i knew it
said his father
everybody watched dallas in 1987
and everybody saw brad on it for five
weeks he played a good looking but not
very intelligent teenager
he was 23 years old at the time
it wasn’t an interesting or difficult
role
but more and more girls fell in love
with him
chapter 4
acting the early years
things began to happen quickly for brad
after dallas
he had roles in tv programs
head of the class 1988
21 jump street
1988 with johnny depp and
30 something
1989
he had work in movies too
a stoning in fulham county 1988
across the tracks
1991
and other film work
brad learned more about acting from
every role
he also often found a new girlfriend
when he got a new job he fell in love
easily
he dated shalane mccall from dallas for
two months
julian says
i loved brad more than anything in the
world at the end of their romance
shalane cried for three days
he dated robin givens from head of the
class for six months
robin givens was the wife of a famous
fighter
mike tyson
before she met brad
one night mike tyson came to robin’s
house
brad was there
and tyson was not happy about that
robin did not want tyson to hit the
prettiest face in hollywood
brad went home early that evening
brad also made a tv advertisement in
1988 for levi’s jeans
this was an important job
because women in europe saw brad without
a shirt for the first time
they wanted to see more of the levi’s
jeans boy
with a sexy smile and beautiful body
brad learned a lot about life too
in his first four years in los angeles
he carried a notebook with him when he
worked on tv programs or movies
he liked to do pictures of buildings
he also studied and read in his free
time
but he wanted more
he wanted an important role in a movie
and a serious girlfriend
he found these things when he made too
young to die
a tv movie
in 1990
too young to die
tells the story of amanda
a teenager with a lot of problems in her
life
she has a crazy boyfriend
billy
he sells her to other men for sex
he says that she has to kill somebody
juliette lewis was amanda
and brad pitt was billy
she was much younger than him
and they were great in this serious
movie
brad didn’t look beautiful
his body was thin
and he looked hungry and dangerous
but he was real
and people were really interested in him
after they finished their work on too
young to die
brad and juliet were good friends
they drove round in brad’s car
they listened to music and watched
movies
brad really liked juliet but their
romance started slowly
juliette was only 16 years old
but she was also the woman for brad
they moved into a house
and had fun
juliet learned to cook
and brad taught her about music
they loved reading
and had one room in their house for
their books
they liked animals too
brad had three dogs and juliet had a cat
brad stayed with juliet for three years
she was the center of his life
chapter 5
the right role
after too young to die
brad and juliet made two important
movies
juliet went to florida for cape fear
with robert de niro
in june 1990 brad began work on thelma
and louise
the director of thelma and louise was
ridley scott
early in 1990
brad and 400 other young actors went to
ridley scott’s office
and read the role of
j.d with gina davis
one of the stars of the movie
it was a small but important role
brad understood this kind of man
jd was sexy
and he liked women
he was from oklahoma
and he wasn’t serious
but ridley scott wanted billy baldwin
for the role
then suddenly
billy baldwin had a bigger role in a
different movie
backdraft 1991.
he couldn’t do thelma and louise
so ridley scott called brad pitt
brad was the new jd
and he was on his way to the top
thelma and louise tells the story of two
women
they leave home one day for a fishing
vacation
they have problems on the first night
and louise
susan sarandon
kills a man
they run from the police and meet jd on
the road
with his smile
and his body
brad pitt lights up the movie
he wins thelma’s love in about two
minutes
he stays with her for one sexy night
and changes her life
in the morning
she has the biggest smile in the world
on her face
then jd leaves quietly with thelma and
louise’s money
one night of love costs the women
six thousand six hundred dollars
brad was in thelma and louise for 14
minutes
but now he was a star
everybody on the movie says that brad
was friendly
nice
and fun
brad
loved working with all those great
people
he says
it’s the same as in tennis when you play
with a great player your game gets
better
but he had one
problem what did his mother think about
him and gina davis in the same bed
thelma and louise was a really big movie
in 1991.
juliette lewis saw it with brad
she said
everybody shouted bread bread over here
it was crazy
they all wanted him
another teenage girl saw thelma and
louise in 1991
and loved it too
her name
gweneth paltrow
she met brad three years later
and something interesting happened
chapter 6
life after jd
after five years in hollywood brad was
famous
directors wanted him in all kinds of
movies
but they wanted another jd
brad wanted different roles
he always says
i want my work to stay
interesting his next three movies were
all very different from thelma and
louise
one of them
the favor
was a mistake
it was a weak romantic story and not
many people saw it
then brad starred in
johnny swade
he was a strange sad musician
every day
brad sat in a chair for two hours before
his hair was ready
the movie won some awards
but not many people saw it
brad says
i like it but my parents hated it
it was a strange movie for them
next he made
cool world with kim bassinger
it was an interesting idea
but it didn’t work
after these three movies
brad had to be in another big movie
his next job changed him from an
interesting little star from missouri
to a great big hollywood star
a river runs through it
is a big
beautiful movie
and it has a famous director
robert redford
brad played the role of paul
he is the younger wilder brother in the
movie
he is smart and good-looking on the
outside
but he is sad and dangerous on the
inside
brad learned to fish for this role
he learned on the top of tall buildings
in hollywood
and in his friend’s swimming pools
then he went to montana
and fished in a real river
a river runs through it
was good for brad
learned a lot from redford
and enjoyed working with him
most of the newspapers liked brad in the
movie
and it made a lot of money
but brad wasn’t happy with everything
about it
paul looked weak
and too pretty
he was always in the sun with beautiful
hair
and a big
smile for brad
paul had more inside
but the movie didn’t show this
chapter 7
two strange roles
[Music]
between
1993 and 1995
brad pitt made six important movies
some of them were important because a
lot of people saw them
all of them were important because they
were intelligent movies
he was famous after thelma and louise
and a river runs through it
but his feet stayed on the ground
he thought about his new movies
and took the difficult interesting roles
in 1993
brad and juliet lewis lived in the same
house
and they wanted to work together again
they were excited
when director dominic senna wanted them
for his movie
california
1993
they had the two most difficult roles
i asked for it says brad
you take a movie because it’s hard
not because it’s easy or the same as
before
brad plays early grace a crazy bad
killer
and juliet is his waitress girlfriend
adele
brad looks almost ugly in this role
he has long dark dirty hair
and he wears dirty t-shirts and old
pants
brad and juliet were good in california
but the movie didn’t make much money
brad says
i went to bed one night and it was in
the movie theaters
i got up the next morning and it wasn’t
there
maybe the story was too depressing for
most americans
in his next movie true romance
brad had a small but important role
brad liked true romance because quentin
tarantino wrote the story for it
after tarantino’s movie reservoir dogs
everybody in hollywood wanted to work
with him
brad plays floyd
the strange friend of christian slater
the star of the movie
he has long hair
and a sleepy look on his face
he lives in front of the tv
and says the wrong things to the wrong
people
this makes problems for his friend
brad finished true romance in february
1993
at the same time he ended his romance
with juliet lewis
after three happy years she wanted to
marry brad
but he wasn’t ready
he loved juliet
but he moved out of their house
he couldn’t be as serious as juliet
about their future
brad and juliet also had another problem
juliet and a number of other hollywood
actors
john travolta tom cruise kirsty alley
were serious about the church of
scientology
this was fine for juliet
but brad wasn’t interested
chapter 8
the jump to superstar
after true love
two movies pushed brad from star
to superstar
first he made legends of the fall with
anthony hopkins
like a river runs through it
legends of the fall
is a big family story
again the country is beautiful
and we are in montana
the two movies won awards for the
beautiful camera work
and again
brad is the beautiful sun with problems
legends made a lot of money
and moved brad
into the top class of hollywood actors
now people bought tickets for every
movie with brad in it
brad went to the first night with all of
his family
on december 25th 1994
they loved the movie
it was a great christmas
after legends
brad made
interview with the vampire
interview
has great actors
tom cruise list at
christian slater
antonio banderas
and a great story by anne rice
but there were problems with the
movie anne rice didn’t want tom cruise
in the starring role
river phoenix had an important role
but he died two weeks after filming
began
brad was very tired after legends
and his role
lewis
was difficult and depressing brad says
i hated doing this movie
hated it
but i loved watching it
louis was always sad
five and a half months of that was too
much
one newspaper story said
tom cruise and brad aren’t happy
together but they were
they had fun with their
ugly wall
they made funny faces and first tom and
then brad took photos
then they put the photos on their wall
so everybody could see them
when anne rice saw the movie
she loved it
she also loved brad and tom cruise in it
she wrote about the movie in a two-page
advertisement in a hollywood newspaper
interview made 38 million seven hundred
thousand dollars
in the first three days in movie
theaters
and more than 100 million dollars from
tickets in the united states
chapter nine
two of brad’s best movies
now brad was a bigger star
he made a lot of money from each movie
and everybody knew his name
his face was everywhere in 1995
people
a very big magazine in the united states
gave him an award
he was
the sexiest man in the world
and next
he made two more superstar movies
the director ron howard
wanted brad for apollo 13.
but brad wanted the role of a young
detective in a much smaller movie
the name of the movie
is seven
because it is about seven ugly days in a
big angry loud city
brad has to find a dangerous killer
this man kills seven people
brad did the dangerous running jumping
and fighting in the movie
he ran across the tops of cars in the
rain
he went through a car window and cut his
arm very badly
but he didn’t stop
working everything was too exciting
the other actors in the movie were
exciting too
morgan freeman and kevin spacey had
important roles
and gwyneth paltrow played brad’s wife
this was a small role
but she was very big in brad’s real life
she was his next serious girlfriend
brad met gwyneth about two months before
she got the role in seven
he says
i saw her and it was love
no question about it
gwyneth says
it was love
i remembered him from thelma and louise
he was beautiful in that movie
brad is intelligent kind and funny
he loves his family and he likes dogs
that’s usually a good thing in people
seven surprised everybody
it made 13 million dollars in the movie
theaters in its first weekend
it was the biggest movie in the united
states in the fall of 1995.
brad also made 12 monkeys with bruce
willis in 1995
brad plays jeffrey goins
a sick young man in a hospital for
crazy people
before he began work on the movie
brad went to a real hospital for two
weeks
there he talked to people with serious
problems
he also changed his famous eyes from
blue
to brown
the director terry gilliam said
brad is crazy funny and wonderful in 12
monkeys
he’s more dangerous than he looks
12 monkeys made a lot of money
and brad won the golden globe award for
his acting
after these six big movies
the future looked very exciting
brad was one of the busiest stars in
hollywood
chapter 10
life as a superstar
in april
1995
brad and gwyneth went to london for the
opening of legends of the fall
everybody wanted the story about their
romance
and all of the newspapers wanted photos
of them brad told the newspapers
i am very very happy
i’m in love
but there were problems too
brad and gwyneth had little time away
from the cameras and newspaper writers
they went to the caribbean
for a vacation
they swam and sat in the sun without any
clothes
when they saw their photos in newspapers
and magazines everywhere brad felt very
angry
he didn’t want the world to know
everything about him
teenage girls wrote letters to brad
about love one said
dear brad
my name is melissa
and i really love you
i have your picture on my wall
and i look at you all of the time
i hate gwyneth
you are too good for her
forget her
i know you really love me
please write to me today
brad got tired of this kind of crazy
love from strangers
he wanted the real thing with gwyneth
on december 18
1995
brad was 32 years old
he says
1995 was a wonderful year
he made some strong exciting movies
and he met gwyneth
after his birthday he went to missouri
he always goes there for christmas with
his family
that year he took gweneth with him
but before brad and gwyneth left for
missouri together brad wanted to say
something important to his girlfriend
they drove to a romantic place near
hollywood
they ate and drank
they laughed together
but then brad got serious
he looked at gwyneth
and quietly asked the most important
question
will you marry me brad was ready
but gwyneth wasn’t
she says
nobody in hollywood marries at our age
and stays married
she was young
and wanted to wait
the romance between brad and gwyneth
didn’t end that christmas
they were together for two and a half
years
and they planned to marry
in
1997 they also had plans for a movie
together
but something went wrong
and their romance ended in june of that
year
they didn’t make the movie together
and brad never talks about gwyneth
or about the end
chapter 11
the real brad
after
1996 brad was very busy
sleepers with robert de niro and dustin
hoffman came out in 1996
the devil’s own with harrison ford
and seven years in tibet
came out in 1997.
meet joe black with anthony hopkins came
out in 1998
fight club in 1999
and snatch
in 2000
some of these movies weren’t as good as
brad’s six movies between
1993 and 1995
but in each movie
brad had an interesting role he always
makes a movie exciting
he worked with big stars and interesting
directors
and he learned from them
brad was a superstar too
he made 17 million dollars for his role
in meet joe black
brad’s life changed in 1998
he had a new girl on his arm
he called her my girl
but her name
was jennifer aniston
she is rachel on the american tv program
friends
brad and jennifer were very careful
about their romance
they didn’t want their photos in the
newspapers
they didn’t talk to people about their
life together
but they looked very happy
they liked the same things
a lot of music quiet nights at home
and fun with friends
jennifer went to missouri and met brad’s
family
he met her family too
brad said
nothing is more important than love
on july 29th
2000
200 of brad and jennifer’s friends and
family met at malibu in california
for an expensive exciting
and romantic evening
there were fifty thousand flowers
a lot of music
and wonderful food
they watched brad marry his girl
jennifer wore a beautiful white dress
and arrived with her father
one friend says
there was a big smile on brad’s face all
evening
everybody was happy for them
it was a great party
the future looks interesting for brad
pitt
he is happy at home with a smart
beautiful wife
and his acting gets better and better
he looks for interesting sometimes
strange movies he can do almost anything
one director says
everybody wants brad pitt
he’s one of the biggest stars in the
world today
women love him and like him too
and he’s a man’s man
men want to be his friend
is the real brad pitt crazy dangerous
angry and sexy
it’s a difficult question
but
people say he is a little crazy
really nice
a lot of fun
intelligent
and yes
very sexy
and brad
the real brad stays out of newspapers
and magazines as much as possible
he follows the right road for him
he wants to be an actor
not a star
he remembers the lessons of his mother
and father
he has his feet on the ground
he enjoys every minute of his life
you