Brad Pitt Is Always Eating Onscreen and It's Not for the Reason You Think
Feb. 1 2024, Published 1:05 p.m. ET
Brad Pitt eating in 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith'
Movie stars — they’re just like us! Well, they’re not 100 percent like us, but one movie star in particular does have a familiar habit … eating.
Moviegoers have noticed that Brad Pitt seems to always have a snack onscreen. Whether he’s eating a full meal or simply grabbing something and snacking on it during a shot, Brad Pitt is always eating! But why?
Fans initially figured it could be several reasons — perhaps he’s hungry and shooting scenes can take hours so it’s nice to have a snack. Or maybe he just wants to look *relatable* since there’s little else that we can relate to when it comes to the Oscar-winning hunk. His pattern of eating is so noticeable that there are several video compilations of it.
And in 2019, he revealed the real reason he’s always eating...
Brad Pitt eating in 'Moneyball'
Brad Pitt is always eating because he’s a “grazer.”
During the promotion for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Brad gave several interviews about his role in the Quentin Tarantino film. But one interview with JOE stood out in particular because he finally answered the long-awaited question about why he’s always eating. In Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, for instance, he eats an entire pot of macaroni and cheese.
"I like to busy myself, I'm a grazer by nature, so..." he began before Margot Robbie added she also liked having stuff to do onscreen.
It’s true that while studying acting, teachers and directors often instruct actors to do some sort of activity while performing the scene. Humans rarely just stand and talk — we often eat, drink, play games, do the laundry, clean, etc.—so giving the actors an action can help the scenes feel more realistic.
When Brad was in Ocean’s Eleven, he explained that they just had food: “Well, there was actually a method to that, because he was always on the run, always on the move, I figured he could never sit down and have a proper meal. So he always had to grab something on the run."
Everyone’s been there, so it makes sense to see this depicted on screen!
A Redditor found that statistically, Brad’s films in which he eats more than 200 calories perform better.
Redditor u/LundgrensFrontKick did a lot of digging and statistical analysis to figure out that Brad’s movies are most successful when he’s eating a lot. He actually found that in five of Brad’s films, he specifically eats a turkey leg, which proves that Brad isn’t a vegetarian and probably loves turkey.
A screenshot of redditor u/LundgrensFrontKick's list
The films where he eats more than 200 calories include Moneyball, Ocean’s Eleven, Meet Joe Black, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and more. They have a Tomatometer average of 67 percent, an IMDb user score of 7.0, and a domestic box-office average of $143 million. Compared to the movies in which he doesn’t eat at all, these films are slightly more successful on average.
Of course, it may not be representative of any causation. It’s possible that those movies just also happen to be better. The films in which he doesn’t eat include Thelma and Louise, 12 Years a Slave, The Big Short, and more. On average, their Tomatometer score is 64 percent with an IMDb user score of 6.9, and they have a domestic box-office average of $68 million.
So if the numbers are proof of anything, keep eating, Brad!
