Brad pitt cover november issue of GQ magazine

Like all superstars, Brad Pitt has taken his hits: from the press, from the studios and, while making his latest film, Fury, even fellow actors took a swing. And now, as GQ's latest cover star, he's breaking cover. In our exclusive and candid interview, the actor talks family life past and present, the perils of living in a tank for four months and the power of the word 'no'. 

Elsewhere you'll find Phoebe Eaton on the mysterious death of L'Wren Scott, a report on James Foley and the new chaos of kidnapping, and all the autumn/winter trends you need to know as the weather begins to wind down. We've also got a rundown of the foremost female networkers of our generation in the first-ever GQ 100 Most Connected Women in Britain list.
Here, see an exclusive preview of Brad Pitt's cover shoot along with some choice quotes from our interview - and be sure to pick up the issue to read it in full this coming Thursday.

On marriage
"I wouldn't say [marriage is] just a title. There's more to it than that."
On what he thinks his friend George Clooney meant when he recently called Pitt "unreachable"
"Well, you know, George is extremely accessible. He's one of our best representatives. He's funny as shit.  He's a joy to be around. I guess maybe I'm more of a miserable bastard. [laughs]. I'm a bit of a loner you know?  I'm more quiet by nature.  And coming from, you know, hillbilly country, I'm probably more reserved."
On choosing work
"I'm actually very snobbish about directors. I have to say no all the time. 'No' is the most powerful word in our business. You've got to protect yourself… To leave home, it's got to be worth leaving. It's got to be worth it."
On Shia LaBeouf and his commitment to acting
"Oh, I love this boy. He's one of the best actors I've ever seen. He's full-on commitment, man. He's living it like no one else, let me tell you. I've been fortunate to work with a lot of great actors. He's one of the best I've seen."
On how Brad Pitt and Shia LaBeouf almost came to blows on set (for Fury) with fellow actor Scott Eastwood, when he spat tobacco on the tank they were all in
"We were driving down the road, I'm in the turret, Shia is at the other turret, and Scott is on the back, spitting juice. And I'm starting to get pissed off, I'm starting to get hot, because this is our home, he's disrespecting our home, you know? So I said, in the scene with the cameras rolling, 'You're going to clean that shit up.' Shia clocks it, and you have to understand, we've been through severe boot camp already, we've been through a lot in this tank. Shia saw it and felt the same - he's disrespecting our home. So Shia had the same reaction I did and started having some words… then I had to get in after the cameras were rolling and explain it to Scotty, you know… The funny thing is, when we got home at the end of the day and read the script, it said Scotty's character is 'chewing tobacco and spitting it on the back of the tank'. He was just doing as instructed in the script! So we were the knobs in the end…"
On purposefully slowing down his acting career
"I've been slowing down for a while now. And slowly transitioning to other things. And, truthfully, I do want to spend more time with my kids before they're grown up and gone."
On considering a TV role
"They're doing great stuff on television. And we [Plan B] have a few television ideas ourselves. So yes, I'd love to do one."
On not being on Twitter
"Listen, I see a benefit in it. You could, you know, combat the misconceptions of the misquotes immediately. And if I'd have had that in my younger days, I'd have used it… because I felt quite used, and completely misunderstood, and misread, and not given the benefit of the doubt. You know, I felt that a lot in my first years. I would have brought some logic to the table, and brought it immediately. But now, at this point, I don't want to bother with it."
On whether he's happy
"I've always believed happiness is overrated, you know? It's those difficult times that inform the next wonderful time, and it's a series of trade-offs, of events, of wins and losses."