Brad Pitt joined Alcoholics Anonymous after split with Angelina Jolie

Brad Pitt has opened up about his battle with alcoholism in an honest new interview with The New York Times.

The 55-year-old, whose next film, Ad Astra, hits cinemas on September 18, revealed he spent a year and a half in Alcoholics Anonymous after his ex-wife Angelina Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, and remains committed to his sobriety.

“I had taken things as far as I could take it, so I removed my drinking privileges,” he told the newspaper.

AA describes itself as “an international mutual aid fellowship” whose goal is to help its members to "stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety”. Support groups hold regular meetings in private where members share their stories in a non-judgemental environment, which Pitt admits he found refreshing.

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“You had all these men sitting around being open and honest in a way I have never heard,” Pitt said. “It was this safe space where there was little judgement, and therefore little judgement of yourself.”

He added: “It was actually really freeing just to expose the ugly sides of yourself. here’s great value in that.”

Maleficent star Jolie called time on their 11-year relationship in September 2016, filing legal papers that cited "irreconcilable differences". She also applied for physical custody of their six children, saying she had done so for the "health of the family".

Reports at the time suggested the couple got into a heated argument while the family were travelling together on a plane, an incident that proved to be the final straw for their relationship. Pitt later denied claims of “inappropriate behaviour” towards their 15-year-old son Maddox on the private plane and was later “cleared of abuse in child services investigation”.

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Jolie and Pitt have six children together: three were adopted internationally, while three are biological. The couple reached an amicable custody agreement in November 2016, with Jolie taking sole custody of the children.

The couple’s marriage was dissolved earlier this year.

Ad Astra, a science fiction film, received critical acclaim when it debuted at Venice Film Festival in August. In it, Pitt plays astronaut Roy McBride, who travels into deep space to unravel a mystery that threatens the survival of humans on Earth.

Watch a trailer below.