Michael Pitt
Michael Pitt (born April 10, 1981)[1] is an American actor, model, and musician.
This article is about the American actor. For the British civil servant, see Michael Pitt (civil servant).
Michael Pitt
April 10, 1981
- Actor
- model
- musician
1997–present
Asia Argento (2003–2004)
Jamie Bochert (2004–2014)
In film, he has appeared in Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001), Bully (2001), Murder by Numbers (2002), The Dreamers (2003), Last Days (2005), Silk (2007), Funny Games (2007), I Origins (2014), and Ghost in the Shell (2017). In television, he portrayed Henry Parker in the teen drama Dawson's Creek (1999–2000), Jimmy Darmody in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire (2010–2011), and Mason Verger in the second season of the NBC series Hannibal (2014).
Early life[edit]
Pitt was born in West Orange, New Jersey,[1][2] the son of Donald B. Pitt, an auto mechanic, and Eleanor Carol (née DeMaio) Pitt, a waitress.[3] 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 high schools, among them Morris Catholic High School,[4] and was in "special classes" before ultimately dropping out. He also did a brief stint at the Essex County Youth House, a detention center.[5]
Career[edit]
Film[edit]
In 2001, Pitt earned a breakout role as Tommy Gnosis, the lover of a trans rock star named Hedwig, in the film Hedwig and the Angry Inch, an adaptation of John Cameron Mitchell'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 Bully (2001), Murder by Numbers (2002), and the 2007 remake of Funny Games. One of Pitt's more notable roles was as the lead in 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."[6] 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:
Personal life[edit]
In 2005, Pitt revealed that he had been "engaged for a long time now" to model Jamie Bochert and said of her: "She's my other half."[5] The two ended their relationship in 2014.[18][19] Pitt had previously been engaged to Asia Argento from 2003 to 2004.[20]
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.[21]