Paul Drinkwater/NBC

He knows a large part of that is on him. As he fought to earn time with his kids, Pitt also set upon a self-improvement crash course designed to transform him into the type of dad he wanted to be. "I grew up with a Father-knows-best/war mentality—the father is all-powerful, super strong—instead of really knowing the man and his own self-doubt and struggles," he offered by way of explanation to GQ Style. "And it's hit me smack in the face with our divorce: I gotta be more. I gotta be more for them. I have to show them. And I haven't been great at it."

Save from a Golden Globe appearance that proved the bulk of Hollywood was still in his corner, the actor dipped underground for several months, committing himself to a life of cranberry juice and fizzy water—"I was boozing too much. It's just become a problem," he said of what he called his ability to drink a Russian under the table with his own vodka—and therapy.

"For me this period has really been about looking at my weaknesses and failures and owning my side of the street," he noted in the 2017 profile. "I'm an a--hole when it comes to this need for justice. I don't know where it comes from, this hollow quest for justice for some perceived slight. I can drill on that for days and years. It's done me no good whatsoever. It's such a silly idea, the idea that the world is fair. And this is coming from a guy who hit the lottery, I'm well aware of that. I hit the lottery, and I still would waste my time on those hollow pursuits."