There are movie stars, and then there are silver screen gods. Brad Pitt is the latter, and he might be the last one. In the earliest stages of his career, he was the handsome, goofy surfer-bro next door who made all the girls swoon, but he quickly proved that his talent and taste transcended his Tiger Beat good looks, and by the mid-90s he was a serious force courting the most coveted roles in Hollywood.
As an actor, his choices have only gotten more interesting with age. Unlike, say, Tom Cruise, who’s moved away from the idiosyncratic character material that made him so interesting in the ‘90s and remade himself as the Ageless Action Hero, Pitt is taking more risks than ever. Not all of them pay off, but his failures (War Machine and By the Sea, for instance) are always admirable. And he hasn’t just starred in some of the best movies of the last 30 years, he’s used (and continues to use) his star power as a force for good, championing exciting new filmmakers and helping risky projects secure funding through his Plan B production shingle.
With 80 acting credits to his name, there’s very little filler and an abundance of killer in Pitt’s filmography. These 20 movies were chosen based on the strength of his performance and the quality of the movie. Some of these are classics in which Pitt’s role is relatively minor (Thelma & Louise, True Romance), a few are not-so-great movies that are nevertheless elevated by Pitt’s presence (Snatch). All are worth watching.
To read our review of Pitt’s latest film Ad Astra click here, and for more ranked lists from Collider, check out our rankings of Tom Cruise movies, Quentin Tarantino movies, Christopher Nolan movies, and Steven Spielberg movies.
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