Brad predicts it's skirts for men

May 18 2004

HEART-THROB Brad Pitt is as candid as possible about his new film Troy and marriage to Jennifer Aniston.

EMMA POMFRET and SHERNA NOAH report...

It was the news thousands of besotted female fans were hoping for - Brad Pitt seemed to be hinting that his marriage to the equally beautiful Jennifer Aniston might not last forever.

The 40-year-old admitted that the golden couple refused to "cage each other with this pressure of happy ever after".

"There is so much pressure from day one to be with someone forever," he told Vanity Fair.

"And I'm not sure that it really is in our nature to be with something for the rest of our lives.

"Jen and I always made a pact, that we'll see where this thing is going."

You might think Brad would need the skills of legendary warrior Achilles - the character he plays in new blockbuster Troy - to escape his wife's wrath.

But instead he laughs off suggestions that his somewhat controversial comments about his relationship had landed him in trouble on the domestic front.

"I'm not in the doghouse. Jen and I put everything on the table - we discuss everything," said the Hollywood idol who, together with his stunning 35-year-old wife, heads the 2004 list of the 50 Most Beautiful People In The World by US magazine People.

Their marriage is as strong as ever, he insists, and after four years of wedded bliss, the couple are planning to start a family - something which they've been discussing for years.

"I think it's time that I started having children, I finally think I'm mature enough," Pitt says.

"More importantly, Jen thinks I'm mature enough and won't mess up a child's life too much."

And with Jennifer recently finishing filming the smash hit sitcom Friends, the timing, it seems, couldn't be better.

"Jen's in a transition period at the moment - she is definitely sorry to be saying goodbye to an era in her life but she's also eager to work on her film career," he says.

Full of praise for the talented actress, who he says he loves for her "passionate" nature, Brad is adamant that the couple - dubbed America's Sweethearts much to their apparent dismay - won't be repeating the mistake of former Hollywood couple Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez by making a movie together.

"I think the odds are against that," he laughs.

"The precedent of couples working together has been set lately and it's not promising."

And he rubbishes the inevitable rumours of off-screen chemistry between him and Angelina Jolie, his co-star in new movie Mr And Mrs Smith.

"We were both prepared for such sensational stories but that doesn't mean we don't get annoyed when they actually come out.

It's not only his private life which has been making the headlines. Photos of Brad, dressed as Achilles - a few bits of leather, a helmet and not much else - proved the sexy star had done some pretty impressive working out for the much-hyped Troy, which at £140 million is one of the most expensive films of all time. Directed by Wolfgang Petersen, the epic features a star-studded cast including Hulk star Eric Bana as Prince Hector, Orlando Bloom as Prince of Troy and Peter O'Toole as King Priam, as well as Julie Christie and Saffron Burrows.

Sure to be a box-office success, Troy - based on Homer's The Iliad, the story of war between Greece and Troy after the Prince of Troy whisks Helen, Queen Of Sparta, away from her husband - is rumoured to have made Brad about £15 million.

It's a more mainstream choice for the Oklahoma-born star, whose past successes have included Fight Club, Brit-flick Snatch and Seven Years In Tibet.

He shares a more everyday passion with his character - his new-found love of horses, as his wife Jennifer recognised.

So touched by his obvious affection for one of the horses used in Troy, she tracked down the owner and put in an offer.

"Brad loved the horse. He was always talking about it and they developed a real bond," she said.

And Brad, who rose to the dizzying heights of international stardom following his near-naked appearance in the ultimate girl-power movie Thelma And Louise, was prepared for sartorial sacrifices, happily donning a skirt for his role as Achilles.

"I thought we were all going for realism but I didn't realise I was the only one doing it," he jokes about his skimpy outfit.

"Men will be wearing skirts by next summer - this is my prediction and proclamation."

* Troy opens nationwide on Friday May 21.