Pitt Stop: Brad Down The Years

Yes, this is a love letter of sorts to the Hollywood superstar to celebrate his torso-fuelled appearance in Wolfgang Petersen's Troy on ITV1 this Saturday evening.

It wasn't all plain sailing for the Tinseltown hunk in the early days after he graduated from Kickapoo High School (no, that isnt a typo), with the BP forced into a stint dressed as an El Pollo Loco chicken when he moved to Los Angeles. He did, however, finally get a break in TV mega hit Dallas as idiot boyfriend Randy...

Young Bradley parlayed his cheeky turn alongside JR and co into a few small movie parts, before Tony Scott handed him the chance to melt a few hearts as drifter J.D. in this classic girl power flick.

His love scene with Geena Davis' kooky Thelma, where the Pittster shows off his washboard stomach wearing a cowboy hat set the pulses racing worldwide, it moved him out of the "must do better" category to "very promising".

There have been a fair few women to fall for the Brad smile over the years with Cape Fear's memorable Juliette Lewis the first starlet to hook up with Oklahoma's finest.

The two paired up on screen for this underrated gem, after Brad's star turns in Johnny Suede and The River Runs Through It the previous year in 1992. Brad's deranged Early Grayce was proof the pretty boy could act his socks off.

Smack bang in the early throes of Tarantino mania came this script from wonder boy Quentin, which allowed Tony Scott to coral the best character actors Hollywood could muster for one wild ride.

Brad opted for a small turn as Dick's roommate Floyd, who had a penchant for weed and the couch. Kudos to the Pitt Stop for producing such a mesmeric turn that it stood up against the likes of co-stars Walken, Hopper and Patricia Arquette.

Not many people gave this big-budget book adaptation a chance before it came out, despite the presence of Brad and Tommy Cruise in the lead roles, mainly because of Irish indie director Neil Jordan's presence at the helm.

Doff your cap time to Neil and the gang, because it served up a veritable Gothic feast of carnage that looked bloody wonderful. It also gave the ladies the chance to see Brad and Tom suck their way through the ages, plus a little man-on-man to boot.

Where do you go after essaying a rampant goldilocked vampire? Answer: Straight into David Fincher's quite superb serial killer classic that paired Brad's eager young Detective David Mills with Morgan Freeman's brilliantly jaded William Somerset.

Not only did it raise the bar for flicks in the genre, as it carved its way to worldwide box-office domination, but it allowed Brad to get face time with co-star Gwyneth Paltrow after Kevin Spacey had had his wicked way in the film.

Juliette soon found herself in the BP romance rearview when Gwynnie fluttered her eyelashes at Hollywood's young star in the making. Their time on the Se7en set proved enough flesh exposure to spark a celebrity romance.

People's Sexiest Man Alive in 1995, Brad wasted no time in shacking up with the G Pal for a good few years, the couple actually getting engaged at one point. However, it soon came to an end with both moving on to fellow paparazzi targets.

It's not often that the words "Oscar" and "William Bradley Pitt" have come up in the same sentence, despite his obvious talent as a silver screen thespian. This Terry Gilliam mind trip, though, earned him his first Academy nomination.

He turned in a superlative crazy turn as Jeffrey Goines, a member of a revolutionary group, who pairs up with Bruce Willis' time travelling convict. He won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor, but lost out in the gold bald guy stakes to Kevin Spacey's equally memorable turn in The Usual Suspects.

Buoyed by his Oscar nom, Brad fitted in Sleepers, The Devil's Own (opposite wrinkled superstar Harrison Ford) and Jean-Jacques Annaud's Seven Years in Tibet before he embarked on this drawn out saga alongside Tony Hopkins.

The shoot was notable for lots of New York sightings of Pitt flouncing around with his new bleach blonde look. Sadly for cinema goers, it didn't get much better as his screen romance with Brit Claire Forlani produced barely enough chemistry to fill a petri dish. Rare floppy time for BP in the worldwide box-office stakes.

Other than people who had taken to nuclear bunkers over the last 15 odd years, it was hard not to miss beautiful Brad and 1999 saw him move even higher in the celeb stakes due to a wicked perf opposite celluloid God Ed Norton.

His old Se7en buddy, director Fincher, fashioned a high-octane ride for our very eyes, which also involved Pitt getting near enough naked, hot and sweaty in a succession of fight scenes that helped propel it to movie megabucks.

Friends star Aniston and movie mainstay Brad hooked up in 1998, before Fight Club exploded into our celluloid consciousness. Things started to hot up further throughout 1999 as the gossip hounds talked of wedding bells.

They sure did look a peachy pair and they duly sent tabloid mags' circulation figures rocketing when they announced marriage plans for July 29, 2000 in Malibu. It looked a match made in showbiz heaven with the stars aligned in their favour.

Brad hung out with Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock crew for the follow-up Snatch, playing a gypsy boxer called Mickey O'Neil, before he gave life to a couple of turkeys with The Mexican and Spy Game opposite Bob Redford.

He got back on the success saddle with this modern update on the Sinatra flick, thanks to the chemistry he created with slick co-stars George Clooney and Matt Damon. The trio seemed to have a blast on set and it carried through on screen.

Brad finally took a time out after Ocean's cleaned up at the box office to spend time with Jenny, opting to build up their producing shingle and make the odd cameo in films.

He was tempted out of his acting coma, though, by Warner Bros for Wolfgang Petersen's big-budget epic. It gave him a chance to show off his legendary bod and acting chops alongside fellow hunks Orlando and Eric.

Pitt hooked up with Clooney and Damon again for the distinctly average Ocean's Twelve after Troy slashed its way to bountiful box office. He got back in our good books again, though, in this Doug Liman actioner opposite Tomb Raider herself Angelina Jolie.

Cue worldwide hysteria as an on-set romance blossoms between the staggeringly beautiful stars, which leaves poor Jen in a right state back home. The film duly went stellar, while Brad's marriage went down the showbiz pan.

Brad got a divorce from Jen in 2005 and wasted no time in making a family with Ange, the two of them soon playing host to a gaggle of adopted and natural children. Pittster also went serious on the movie side of things with drama Babel and the excellent The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, either side of another popcorn hoovering Ocean's instalment.

Having produced a very amusing turn in the Coen brother's Burn After Reading, Brad also looks set to get some Oscar love in February with his third gig for Mr Fincher opposite Cate Blanchett. It's hard to believe it's been 18 years since Brad crashed onto the scene. Keep on doing what you're doing hombre.