brad pitt Early work

Early work

While struggling to establish himself in Los Angeles, Pitt took lessons from acting coach Roy London.[1][10][12]

Pitt's onscreen career began in 1987, with uncredited parts in the films No Way Out, No Man's Land and Less Than Zero.[10] His television debut came in May 1987 with a two-episode role on the NBC soap opera Another World.[13] In November of the same year Pitt had a guest appearance on the ABC sitcom Growing Pains.[14] He appeared in four episodes of the CBS primetime series Dallas[15] between December 1987 and February 1988 as Randy, the boyfriend of Charlie Wade (played by Shalane McCall).[1] Pitt described his character as "an idiot boyfriend who gets caught in the hay."[16] Speaking of his scenes with McCall, Pitt later said, "It was kind of wild, because I'd never even met her before."[1] Later in 1988, Pitt made a guest appearance on the Fox police drama 21 Jump Street.[17]

In the same year, the Yugoslavian–U.S. co-production The Dark Side of the Sun (1988) gave Pitt his first leading film role, as a young American taken by his family to the Adriatic to find a remedy for a skin condition. The film was shelved at the outbreak of the Croatian War of Independence, and was not released until 1997.[10] Pitt made two motion picture appearances in 1989: the first in a supporting role in the comedy Happy Together; the second a featured role in the horror film Cutting Class, the first of Pitt's films to reach theaters.[14] He made guest appearances on television series Head of the Class, Freddy's Nightmares, Thirtysomething, and (for a second time) Growing Pains.[18]

Pitt was cast as Billy Canton, a drug addict who takes advantage of a young runaway (played by Juliette Lewis) in the 1990 NBC television movie Too Young to Die?, the story of an abused teenager sentenced to death for a murder.[19] Ken Tucker, television reviewer for Entertainment Weekly wrote: "Pitt is a magnificent slimeball as her hoody boyfriend; looking and sounding like a malevolent John Cougar Mellencamp, he's really scary."[19] The same year, Pitt co-starred in six episodes of the short-lived Fox drama Glory Days,[1] and took a supporting role in the HBO television movie The Image.[20] His next appearance came in the 1991 film Across the Tracks; Pitt portrayed Joe Maloney, a high school runner with a criminal brother, played by Ricky Schroder.[21]

After years of supporting roles in movies and frequent television guest appearances, Pitt attracted wider recognition in his supporting role in the 1991 road film Thelma & Louise.[20] He played J.D., a small-time criminal who befriends Thelma (Geena Davis). His love scene with Davis has been cited as the event that defined Pitt as a sex symbol.[14][22]

After Thelma & Louise, Pitt starred in the 1991 film Johnny Suede, a low-budget picture about an aspiring rock star,[23] and the 1992 film Cool World,[14] although neither furthered his career, having poor reviews and box office performance.[24][25]

Pitt took the role of Paul Maclean in the 1992 biographical film A River Runs Through It, directed by Robert Redford.[26] His portrayal of the character has been described as a career-making performance,[27] proving that Pitt could be more than a "cowboy-hatted hunk."[28] He has admitted to feeling under pressure when making the film[6] and thought it one of his "weakest performances ... It's so weird that it ended up being the one that I got the most attention for."[6] Pitt believed that he benefited from working with such a talented cast and crew. He compared working with Redford to playing tennis with a superior player, saying "when you play with somebody better than you, your game gets better."[27][28]

In 1993, Pitt reunited with Juliette Lewis for the road film Kalifornia. He played Early Grayce, a serial killer and the boyfriend of Lewis's character in a performance described by Peter Travers of Rolling Stone as "outstanding, all boyish charm and then a snort that exudes pure menace."[29] Pitt also garnered attention for a brief appearance in the cult hit True Romance as a stoner named Floyd, providing much needed comic relief to the action film.[30] He capped the year by winning a ShoWest Award for Male Star of Tomorrow.[31]