Broad Brit! Country pubs, country drives and that trip to Wimbledon. How the Hollywood legend rekindled his summer love affair with the UK
When Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie spent the summer in Britain in 2012, they vowed to make it their second home.
More than a decade later, and now embroiled in a bitter, long-running divorce battle with Ms. Jolie, the Hollywood heartthrob is back and has fallen in love with the UK all over again.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that the Fight Club actor has been letting loose here for weeks after filming his new movie about Formula 1 racing. He is based at the exclusive Soho Farmhouse near the Oxfordshire village of Great Tew, staying in one of their first-class cabins previously used by his friend Tom Cruise and British actor Simon Pegg.
Sources close to Pitt, who turns 60 in December, also say he fell in love with a traditional British pub in the market town of Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, where they were filming scenes for his movie, reportedly called Apex, in which he plays a fictional F1 driver named Sonny Hayes.
He had pints at the idyllic Globe Inn, on the banks of the Grand Union Canal, with his co-stars and other staff working on the film. The traditional menu includes scampi and chips for £11.99 and sausage and mash for £11.89.
Match made in heaven: Brad Pitt in the Royal Box at Wimbledon for the men’s final last Sunday
It is 40 kilometers from Silverstone, where Pitt was filming earlier this month on the same weekend as the British Grand Prix. It is also close to the film studios in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, where much of the film is made for Apple TV.
A source said: ‘Brad likes things traditionally English, including a really nice pub. It was closed for a week for filming, but Brad just loved it there, so he would stay and have a drink after filming.”
The star was also in the Royal Box at Wimbledon last Sunday to watch Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz defeat Serb Novak Djokovic in the men’s final.
He enjoys driving around the English countryside in a chauffeured Range Rover.
He has also regularly visited his close friend George Clooney at his £10 million listed riverside home in Sonning, Berkshire, which he shares with his wife Amal.
Like previous visitors to the actor’s home, including the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the Obamas, Pitt stayed overnight after visiting the local pubs. The source added, “It was lovely to have a friend so close by.”
Pitt also regularly took a private helicopter across the Channel to France to visit his vineyard, Chateau Miraval in Provence, which he bought with Mrs Jolie in 2008 for around £25 million.
Unfortunately, it seems his British summer may be coming to an end sooner than he thought after he stopped filming in solidarity with American writers and actors who were striking for higher wages and protesting the use of artificial intelligence.
He would fly to other Grand Prix events in Europe to film scenes. But now stunt doubles are used instead.
The Fight Club actor has been letting his hair down here for weeks after filming his new movie about Formula 1 racing (pictured at Silverstone)
He drank pints at the idyllic Globe Inn, on the banks of the Grand Union Canal, with his co-stars and other collaborators who worked on the Formula 1 film.
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer visited Pitt for drinks at The Globe Inn last week to talk about how they would adapt filming in light of the industrial action.
This month, the actor raced a modified Formula 2 car at Silverstone for the film, which is also being produced by Lewis Hamilton. In the new film, Pitt plays a veteran racing driver who returns to the sport after a 30-year absence.
In 2012, Pitt and Mrs Jolie were living in a mansion in Richmond, southwest London. That summer they were featured at their local Halfords store, Wimbledon and the Olympics.