In what sounds like one of those nightmares where you realize that you signed up for a class you never went to and are about to miss the final, Brad Pitt says he got antsy to start his acting career just as he was due to graduate college, and said “screw it” and drove off to LA:

That takes a lot of nerve, but there’s more to that story I’m sure. You don’t just drop out of college a week before you graduate when you’re doing well in your classes or if you even gave it some effort. It doesn’t matter now, though. There are plenty of success stories starring people who did poorly in school, never went, or dropped out. Just look at the president of the US – ok, don’t look or listen to him for that matter, and it’s a better story.

Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard to work on the burgeoning Microsoft. Angelina Jolie took night classes at New York University in theater, but I can’t find out much more and I doubt she got a degree. Paris Hilton only has a GED, which should surprise no one.

Stay in school, students, but if you’re good looking, really smart, and/or ballsy you may as well drop out and follow your dreams. (Or, let’s be realistic, you could win the lottery, because that’s slightly more likely statistically than reaching Brad’s level of success.)

There’s an excellent interview with Brad, in which he says he wants a whole team full of kids, and talks candidly about his love of flying and activism, available at Gossip Rocks, and published originally in the Phillipine Inquirer.

Here’s some random classic Brad Pitt photos, thanks to Simply Brad. Check out those piercing blue eyes.