Posted by From cringe-worthy beards to swoon-worthy locks, Brad Pitt has styled his hair in various ways for the sake of his art.
Throughout the course of his over 30-year career in Hollywood, Brad Pitt has appeared
in a large number of hit movies and created memorable characters that have their place in cinematic history. His best characters differ greatly in their personalities and their grooming habits.
Unsurprisingly, Pitt’s movie-star good looks have been utilized within his films to increase his appeal. However, not all of his characters can have perfect hair. Although he has starred in many acclaimed films over the years, how did his hair look in each of his most iconic roles?
12 Years A Slave (2013) – Samuel Bass
For his role in the Oscar-winning biographical drama as abolitionist Samuel Bass, Pitt grew out his hair and sported a chin curtain beard. It’s safe to say that this is not his best look, but it was worth it for the sake of art. His longer hair and grey beard give Pitt a grandfatherly look, which reflects Bass’s kind personality.
12 Years A Slave tells the true story of Solomon Northup, a free Black man in pre-Civil War America who is sold to slavery. As one of the film’s producers, Pitt won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2014.
Meet Joe Black (1998) – Joe Black
In the 1998 fantasy film Meet Joe Black, Pitt plays the titular character, the human form that Death takes when he comes down to Earth. He enlists a businessman on the breach of his 65th birthday to teach him about the ways of humankind.
When Pitt walks onto the screen the first thing viewers notice is his hair. It is styled into a boyish cut and includes some blinding blonde highlights. The highlights are so bad that they become distracting to the viewer. It’s impossible to look anywhere else than the top of Pitt’s head.
Interview With A Vampire (1994) – Louis De Pointe Du Lac
Pitt’s long and luscious mane in the 1994 horror film Interview With A Vampire is the kind of hair that many women, and some men, would envy. Whether it is pulled back in a ponytail or flowing freely alongside his face, Pitt’s almost honey-brunette hair looks healthy and shiny.
However, although it truly is nice hair, it does look kind of ridiculous. It fits the gothic time period, and would also work for the cover of a romance novel, but if Pitt wore this hairstyle in the 21st century, he might get some questioning looks from fans and style critics.
Fight Club (1999) – Tyler Durden
In one of his most iconic movies, Pitt plays Tyler Durden, the ripped, mysterious, and effortlessly cool delinquent who acts as a spiritual guide for the protagonist against capitalist America.
Hawaiian shirts, brown leather jackets, and tinted sunglasses fill Pitt’s Fight Club wardrobe, while a semi-spiked hairdo sits on top of his head. Everything about his style feeds into his laid-back but also tough-guy persona. It’s not a terrible haircut, but the spikes feel very late 1990s/early 2000s. If anyone can pull it off, it’s Brad Pitt.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) – John Smith
Mr. & Mrs. Smith tells the story of a seemingly ordinary couple who just so happen to be secret agents assigned to kill each other.
Pitt’s character, Mr. John Smith, is the manifestation of the perfect husband. He’s kind, funny, well-dressed, and very, very, handsome. It only makes sense that Pitt’s hairstyle in the movie would match his character’s level of perfection. However, although his hair is well kept in a short buzzcut, it’s very boring. There’s just nothing about it that stands out.
Troy (2004) – Achilles
Troy is an adventure epic based on Homer’s Iliad that stars Pitt as the Greek warrior Achilles. For his role, Pitt’s hair was styled in shoulder-length, golden tresses.
In various battle scenes, his hair gets quite sweaty, which only adds to the appeal. While greasy hair isn’t always celebrated, it works with his post-battle physique. When he is not performing in a battle scene, Pitt’s locks fall down both sides of his face in effortless waves that someone might spend hours trying to achieve with a curling iron.
Inglourious Basterds (2009) – Lt. Aldo Raine
Not all men call pull off, let alone grow, mustaches. For his role as Aldo Raine in the Quentin Tarantino film Inglourious Basterds, Pitt grew a full but clean mustache that perfectly frames his upper lip.
Inglourious Basterds is a fictional account of Nazi Germany that follows two separate storylines. The first involves a Jewish girl who seeks revenge on the Nazi colonel who kills her family, while the second storyline sees Pitt as a leader of a Jewish-American group of soldiers, the Basterds, who hunt and scalp Nazis.
Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood (2019) – Cliff Booth
It took 32 years in the business, and three previous nominations, for Pitt to finally win an acting Oscar for his role as Cliff Booth in his second film with Quentin Tarantino. Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood follows a has-been television star and his faithful stunt-double/bodyguard in 1969.
As Booth, Pitt pulls off a sixties surfer-dude/laid-back style. Hawaiian shirts paired with t-shirts are his go-to clothing items, and his hair matches his persona. It’s longer, but not too long, and pulled back in a sexy and effortless way.
Thelma & Louise (1991) – J.D.
In Pitt’s small but memorable role in his first big movie, he wears a white cowboy hat that, when paired with his natural blonde hair, oozes appeal. His role as J.D. in Ridley Scott’s Thelma & Louise marked the beginning of his role as a major Hollywood heartthrob.
The film follows best friends Thelma and Louise as they go on the run after Louise shoots a man who attempts to assault Thelma. Pitt plays J.D., a drifter and thief who steals from Louise after spending the night with Thelma.
Se7en (1995) – Detective David Mills
Se7en, the second feature film from former music video director David Fincher, follows a rookie detective and a seasoned veteran on the verge of retirement as they work together to catch a serial killer.
Pitt’s hairstyle in the film reflects his character’s personality. Mills is young and relatively inexperienced in the field, and his hair matches his youthfulness. It’s short, naturally blonde, and has the right amount of volume. Paired with the subtle, but attractive, circle beard, this look is peak 1990s Brad Pitt.