A History of Brad Pitt Movies

Even though Brad Pitt began his acting career on television with guest appearances on shows such as 21 Jump Street, Dallas and Head of the Class it was 1991's Thelma & Louise (directed by Ridley Scott) that first brought him to the attention of moviegoers. His role as the cowboy hitchhiker J.D. who seduces lead character Thelma Dickinson (portrayed by Geena Davis) made not only audiences take notice, Hollywood took notice of the up and coming actor.

It was this role that cast Brad Pitt into futire leading roles and allowed him to prove that, despite his pretty-boy image, he had the talent and skill of a powerful actor capable of drawing audiences in with his craft.

1991's Johnny Suede was Brad Pitt's debut in a leading role. It also was writer-director Tom DiCillo's directorial debut.

DiCillo and his casting director, Marcia Shulman, went to Los Angeles, where Brad Pitt was the second to last guy seen. DiCillo recalls, "He (Brad Pitt) didn't have much on his resume. In fact he only had two things; he'd done a small Canadian TV series and he'd just finished shooting what he'd listed as his only real film credit - something called Thelma and Louise that no one had heard about because it hadn't even been edited yet."

Johnny Suede was a failure at the box office. The movie reportedly grossed $90,091 in the US box office, against a production budget of $500,000 but it was still a credible lead for Pitt that would propel him into future roles.

Directed by Ralph Bakshi, 1992's Cool World would see Brad Pitt once again in a leading role, this time starring opposite of Kim Basinger. Cool World was a live action animated film similar to Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The visual design of the live-action footage was intended to look like "a living, walk-through painting", a visual concept Bakshi had long wanted to achieve.

Although his acting was one of the few positive aspect of the film, once again, Brad Pitt found himself in a leading role of a movie that was a box office failure but that would all change with Pitt's next endeavor.

Directed by Robert Redford, 1992's A River Runs Through It would prove to be Brad Pitt's first serious role in an award winning movie. Although he didn't win any awards for his role as fly-fishing rebellious preacher's son, Paul Maclean, Pitt's acting in this movie put him on the map.

Although the move has some of the most beautiful cinematography, this is a tragic story about a strict father and his two sons, both with very different personalities taking two very different roads in life. The one thing that ties all three men together is sharing the love of fly fishing and love for each other. Brad Pitt's character is charming but can't seem to steer clear of trouble. He has a penchant for taking the easy way out yet finds at the end there is no easy road in life. Success take patience, concentration and hard work but Brad Pitt's happy go lucky character fails to see this and his life ends tragically.

Brad Pitt's compelling performance draws viewers into the plot. His character is more or less a lovable loser who the audience wants to see do the right thing yet the disappointment is heartbreaking when he fails to heed his father and brother's warnings.

A River Runs Through It is a timeless epic that doesn't have action packed car chases, shoot-outs but what it does have is solid, believable acting, a wonderful script and some of the best scenery ever recorded on film.

Quite in contract to his previous work in "A River Runs Through It", Brad Pitt cojured up his dark side in 1993's thriller/road film "Kalifornia". Directed by Dominic Sena, the film featured Brad Pitt opposite Juliette Lewis and David Duchovny playing Early Grayce, a parolee turned psychotic serial killer.

Brad Pitt's role is disturbing and lends nasty credence to the character Early's viciousness. "Kalifornia" confirmed that Brad Pitt is an interesting, persuasive actor, but the film didn't do much for his resume because it was a box office failure.

In 1994's "Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles", Brad Pitt is teamed up with Tom Cruise for a blockbuster drama-fantasy that has the duo cast as gothic vampires. The film was directed by Neil Jordan and based on the 1976 novel "Interview with the Vampire" by Anne Rice.

The movie follows the vampire Lestat (played by Tom Cruise) and his partner Louis de Pointe du Lac (played by Brad Pitt) through centuries of pain and suffering as eternal creatures of darkness.

The film received critical acclaim and was a major breakthrough for Brad Pitt as an actor.

With his career already on the roll, Bradd Pitt's next acting venture, 1994's "Legends of the Fall" would further cement his agility as a character actor. "Legends of the Fall" was directed by Edward Zwick and starred Brad Pitt alongside the venerable Anthony Hopkins and Aidan Quinn.

Brad Pitt plays the part of Tristan Ludlow, the middle son of a retired US Army Colonel who is tired of the betrayals the United States government has perpetrated on the Native Americans and moves to Montana to build a ranch. Tristan is is a gregarious young man, even a little but he is also well-versed in American Indian traditions.

The film was a moderate success and Brad Pitt was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama.