Michael Pitt
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Michael Carmen Pitt (born April 10, 1981) is an American actor, model, and musician. Pitt is known in film for his roles in ''
Murder by Numbers ''Murder by Numbers'' is a 2002 American psychological thriller film produced and directed by Barbet Schroeder and starring Sandra Bullock in the main role, Ben Chaplin, Ryan Gosling, and Michael Pitt. It is loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb c ...
'' (2002),
Bernardo Bertolucci Bernardo Bertolucci (; 16 March 1941 – 26 November 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in Italian cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved international ...
's '' The Dreamers'' (2003), Gus Van Sant's '' Last Days'' (2005), and
Michael Haneke Michael Haneke (; born 23 March 1942) is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. His work often examines social issues and depicts the feelings of estrangement experienced by individuals in modern society. Haneke has made films in French, G ...
's '' Funny Games'' (2007), and in television for his roles as Henry Parker in the
teen drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
''
Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. T ...
'' (1999–2000),
Jimmy Darmody James Edison Darmody is a fictional character in the television show ''Boardwalk Empire'', played by Michael Pitt. He is one of the main characters in the first two seasons of the series. Unlike most of the other main characters in the series, Jim ...
in the
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
series '' Boardwalk Empire'' (2010–2011), and
Mason Verger Mason Verger is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Thomas Harris's 1999 novel ''Hannibal'', as well as its 2001 film adaptation and the second and third seasons of the TV series ''Hannibal''. In the film, he is portrayed by Gary Ol ...
in the second season of the
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
series '' Hannibal'' (2014). He has also appeared in the films '' Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (2001), '' Bully'' (2001), ''
Silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...
'' (2007), ''
Seven Psychopaths ''Seven Psychopaths'' is a 2012 satirical black comedy crime drama film directed, written, and co-produced by Martin McDonagh and starring an ensemble cast featuring Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, and Christopher Walken, with ...
'' (2012), ''
I Origins ''I Origins'' is a 2014 American science fiction romantic drama film written and directed by Mike Cahill. The independent production premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on , 2014. It is distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures, and open ...
'' (2014), and ''
Ghost in the Shell ''Ghost in the Shell'' is a Japanese cyberpunk media franchise based on the seinen manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. The manga, first serialized in 1989 under the subtitle of ''The Ghost in the Shell'' ...
'' (2017).


Early life

Michael Carmen Pitt was born on April 10, 1981 in
West Orange, New Jersey West Orange is a suburban township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from the 46,207 counted in the 2010 Census.
to Donald B. Pitt, an auto mechanic, and Eleanor Carol (née DeMaio) Pitt, a waitress. He has two older sisters and one older brother. Pitt is of Italian and Irish heritage on his mother's side, and of English descent on his father's.
By age 16, Pitt had been to three or four different high schools, among them
Morris Catholic High School Morris Catholic High School is a four-year comprehensive Roman Catholic regional high school located in Denville Township, in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. It was founded in 1957 and is part of the Diocese of Paterson. Morris Cat ...
, and was in "special classes" before ultimately dropping out. He also did a brief stint at the Essex County Youth House, a detention center.


Career


Film

In 2001, Pitt earned a breakout role as Tommy Gnosis, the lover of a
trans Trans- is a Latin prefix meaning "across", "beyond", or "on the other side of". Used alone, trans may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trans (festival), a former festival in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom * ''Trans'' (fil ...
rock star named Hedwig, in the film '' Hedwig and the Angry Inch'', an adaptation of
John Cameron Mitchell John Cameron Mitchell (born April 21, 1963) is a two-time Tony Award winning American actor, playwright, screenwriter, singer, songwriter, producer and director. He is best known as the writer, director and star of the 2001 film '' Hedwig and th ...
's 1998 stage musical. Although not his first film role, Pitt's performance as Gnosis led to a series of supporting roles in many acclaimed and often controversial films, including Larry Clark's '' Bully'' (2001), ''
Murder by Numbers ''Murder by Numbers'' is a 2002 American psychological thriller film produced and directed by Barbet Schroeder and starring Sandra Bullock in the main role, Ben Chaplin, Ryan Gosling, and Michael Pitt. It is loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb c ...
'' (2002), and '' Funny Games'', a 2007 remake of
Michael Haneke Michael Haneke (; born 23 March 1942) is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. His work often examines social issues and depicts the feelings of estrangement experienced by individuals in modern society. Haneke has made films in French, G ...
's 1997 film of the same title. One of Pitt's more notable roles was as the lead in
Bernardo Bertolucci Bernardo Bertolucci (; 16 March 1941 – 26 November 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in Italian cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved international ...
's '' The Dreamers'' (2003). Pitt attributes his success in films to a combination of hard work and the presence of "a few angels in my life." He has also stressed that he chooses roles not with the hope that they will garner commercial success or to gain notoriety but to create art, challenge the audience, and ultimately contribute to a project that he is proud of:
To be honest, I make very controversial films. The films that I've made have been very, very bold choices. As the years go by, I think my work is going to come more and more in context. The truth is that you can't take what people say too seriously. If I cared what people think about my career, I would have not done—just look at my work. Don't look at me, look at what I've done. Every movie that I've picked, from my first film on, has been considered by everyone to be "career suicide." And I have an amazing life. I have an amazing career. I work with artists. But I'm not making Spider-Man.
In 2004, Pitt has also appeared in
Asia Argento Asia Argento (; born Aria Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento; 20 September 1975) is an Italian actress and filmmaker. The daughter of filmmaker Dario Argento, she has had roles in several of her father's features and achieved mainstream success with ...
's '' Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things'' and M. Night Shyamalan's '' The Village'' and in 2005 starred in Gus Van Sant's '' Last Days'' as a rock musician "inspired" by
Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
frontman, Kurt Cobain. He performed all of the songs, which closely resembled Cobain's guitar and singing styles. On the set of ''Last Days'', he met
Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Mo ...
of Sonic Youth, who had been hired by Van Sant to serve as the film's music consultant. The pair formed a close bond, with Moore writing, " uswanted me to hang out with Michael and talk about his character, and let him be in character. We ended up spending a lot of time together. My daughter Coco still relates to Michael as Blake from ''Last Days''". In 2006, he starred in the unconventional romantic comedy ''
Delirious Delirious may refer to: * A state of delirium Film and television * Delirious (1991 film), ''Delirious'' (1991 film), an American comedy directed by Tom Mankiewicz, starring John Candy * Delirious (2006 film), ''Delirious'' (2006 film), an Americ ...
'' as a young homeless man who befriends a celebrity photographer and falls in love with a pop singer. The movie appeared at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
. The following year, he played opposite
Keira Knightley Keira Christina Righton (; née Knightley, born 26 March 1985) is an English actress. Known for her work in both independent films and blockbusters, particularly period dramas, she has received several accolades, including nominations for ...
in ''
Silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...
'', adapted from the novel by
Alessandro Baricco Alessandro Baricco (; born 25 January 1958) is an Italian writer, director and performer. His novels have been translated into a wide number of languages. Early life, family and education Baricco was born in Turin, Italy. He has earned degre ...
, as Hervé Joncour, a French
silkworm The domestic silk moth (''Bombyx mori''), is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of ''Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silk moth. It is an economically imp ...
smuggler, who falls in love with a baron's
concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...
while in Japan. In 2014, Pitt juggled two starring roles, as Tommy Uva in the comedic American
crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
''
Rob the Mob ''Rob the Mob'' is a 2014 American romantic crime film directed by Raymond De Felitta and written by Jonathan Fernandez. The film stars Michael Pitt, Nina Arianda, Andy García, Ray Romano, Aida Turturro, Frank Whaley, Michael Rispoli and Jose ...
'' and as a molecular biologist in search of the truth about the origins of the eye in the
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
romantic drama Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...
''
I Origins ''I Origins'' is a 2014 American science fiction romantic drama film written and directed by Mike Cahill. The independent production premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on , 2014. It is distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures, and open ...
''. In 2017, Pitt starred in the film ''
Ghost in the Shell ''Ghost in the Shell'' is a Japanese cyberpunk media franchise based on the seinen manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. The manga, first serialized in 1989 under the subtitle of ''The Ghost in the Shell'' ...
'' as the villainous hacker Kuze.


Theater

Pitt made his Off-Broadway debut in 1999 in the play ''The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek'' at the New York Theatre Workshop.


Television

During his theater debut, a casting agent whom Pitt had mistaken for a police officer attempting to arrest him noticed him and recommended him for a role on the television series ''
Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. T ...
.'' He played Henry Parker on a recurring basis in the third season (1999–2000). In 2010, Pitt was cast as
Jimmy Darmody James Edison Darmody is a fictional character in the television show ''Boardwalk Empire'', played by Michael Pitt. He is one of the main characters in the first two seasons of the series. Unlike most of the other main characters in the series, Jim ...
in the
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
series '' Boardwalk Empire'' (about the rise of
Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...
during the
Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
era), as the protégé of corrupt politician
Nucky Thompson Enoch Malachi "Nucky" Thompson is a fictional character and the protagonist of the HBO TV series '' Boardwalk Empire'', portrayed by Steve Buscemi. Nucky is loosely based on former Atlantic City, New Jersey political figure Enoch Lewis "Nuck ...
. He appeared in the show's first two seasons and was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Critics's Choice Award for his performance. Pitt said of Boardwalk Empire, "I'm proud of the work we did on that show. My grandfather was an Italian-American and he met my grandmother in Atlantic City. So Jimmy Darmody spoke to me; he felt very close to home." In 2014, he was cast in the recurring role of
Mason Verger Mason Verger is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Thomas Harris's 1999 novel ''Hannibal'', as well as its 2001 film adaptation and the second and third seasons of the TV series ''Hannibal''. In the film, he is portrayed by Gary Ol ...
in the
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
series '' Hannibal'' playing the role in the show's second season. He subsequently left and was replaced by Joe Anderson.


Music

Pitt sang and played guitar in his band,
Pagoda A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...
, whose self-titled debut album was released by
Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...
/Fontana/Ecstatic Peace in 2007. Under the title Jimi Pitt and the Twins of Evil, Pitt performed "
Hey Joe "Hey Joe" is an American song from the 1960s that has become a rock standard and has been performed in many musical styles by hundreds of different artists. The lyrics tell of a man who is on the run and planning to head to Mexico after shooti ...
" with the Twins of Evil for ''The Dreamers'' soundtrack.


Directing

In January 2015, Pitt made his official directorial debut with a campaign film for fashion label
Rag & Bone Rag & Bone is an American fashion label helmed by Marcus Wainwright, originally from Britain. The brand is sold in more than 700 shops around the world, as well as in Rag & Bone retail stores. History Rag & Bone was founded in 2002 by Nathan B ...
's Spring 2015 collection. The video features Pitt and prior co-stars actress
Astrid Bergès-Frisbey Astrid is a feminine given name of Scandinavian origin, a modern form of the name Ástríðr. Derived from the Old Norse Ássfriðr, a compound name composed of the elements (a god) and (beautiful, fair). Variants * Assan (diminutive) (Swed ...
—the new face of Rag & Bone womenswear—and British actor Stephen Graham, from ''I Origins'' and ''Boardwalk Empire'', respectively. Says Rag & Bone co-head, Marcus Wainwright, " itts a really talented actor and musician, and he came to us with this concept of doing a film-based campaign. We thought it was awesome and well worth trying." Pitt has also directed a number of music videos for Pagoda. In 2020, he revealed he had recently directed a film in Italy called ''Nocturnal'', although there is no release date set yet.


Modeling

Pitt has modeled for numerous designer campaigns. In 2012, he was named the face of Italian fashion house Prada and modeled their menswear line. He was also featured in two separate Rag & Bone campaigns prior to the release of his self-directed campaign—once for Fall/Winter 2013, with French actress
Léa Seydoux Léa Hélène Seydoux-Fornier de Clausonne (; born 1 July 1985) is a French actor. Known for her roles in both French cinema and in Hollywood she's received various accolades including the Cannes Film Festival's Trophée Chopard in 2009 as wel ...
, and once for Fall/Winter 2014, with actress
Winona Ryder Winona Laura Horowitz (born October 29, 1971), professionally known as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Originally playing quirky roles, she rose to prominence for her more diverse performances in various genres in the 1990s. She has recei ...
.


Personal life

In 2005, Pitt revealed that he had been "engaged for a long time now" to model
Jamie Bochert Jamie Lynn Bochert (born December 4, 1978), also known by her stage name Francis Wolf, is an American former fashion model and musician, best known for her work in independent fashion magazines and for being a Marc Jacobs muse. She has garnered ...
and said of her: "She's my other half." The two ended their relationship in 2014. Pitt had previously been engaged to
Asia Argento Asia Argento (; born Aria Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento; 20 September 1975) is an Italian actress and filmmaker. The daughter of filmmaker Dario Argento, she has had roles in several of her father's features and achieved mainstream success with ...
from 2003 to 2004. In July 2022, Pitt was arrested and charged with assault and petty larceny after allegedly hitting another man multiple times and taking his phone. In September, Pitt was hospitalized and deemed "emotionally disturbed" after being accused of throwing items at people from the rooftop of a building.


Filmography


Film


Television


Music video


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pitt, Michael 1981 births Male actors from New York City American male film actors Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Male models from New Jersey American people of English descent American people of Irish descent American people of Italian descent Male actors from New Jersey People from West Orange, New Jersey American male stage actors American male television actors