Brad Pitt has a new interview in USA Today’s Weekend section, and they’re claiming that this is his first big interview since 2009. Which can’t be right…? Let me think… the only film he had out last year was Megamind, and I guess he didn’t do that much press for it. So… maybe, sure. He’s done press for Make It Right NOLA though, and it feels like he gives a handful of interviews a year for whatever reason. Anyway, the full USA Weekend piece is here – it’s a nice read, with Brad mostly talking about family life, being a father, etc. Here are some highlights:

Brad on his kids: “Kids hold up a mirror to you. You can’t make excuses. You’ve got to make sure they’ve brushed their teeth and eaten a good breakfast. You want to be present if they wake up with a bad dream.”

Brad on danger & the paparazzi: The responsibility weighs heavily on the now-middle-aged actor. In a display of emotion any parent would relate to, Pitt says fears about his kids’ safety “keep me up at night.” But unlike in most families, Pitt’s worries have an added dimension. “We’re hunted,” he says, flexing his tattooed, muscular forearm as if contemplating retaliation. “Our kids have to live behind a gate. Outside, there are people with cameras. “But I’ll take the trade-off. I never knew I was capable of experiencing so much love.”

How is family has changed him: Parenthood is increasingly central to Pitt’s sense of self, influencing everything from the movies he chooses to make — “I want to leave some work behind that my kids will be proud of” — to his vision of the future with Jolie. Though he has said the couple would wait to wed until gay people could do so legally, he now acknowledges that the timetable may change. “The kids ask about marriage,” he says, sinking wearily into a sofa. He takes a sip of cappuccino. “It’s meaning more and more to them. So it’s something we’ve got to look at.”

His kids aren’t growing up like he did: “On the road, we’re a military mobile unit,” he says. “The kids have got their stuff down to one backpack, and they’re each responsible for their own bag. Mom does the packing; she’s quite gifted at that. Puts in just what we need — nothing extra.” The family migrates between the multi-house Los Angeles compound he calls “our base camp” and film sets around the globe, spending downtime at a 1,000-acre estate in southern France. “We’re pretty nomadic,” he says. “We go where the crops are.”

More on their lifestyle: Pitt concedes that his family life “seems a bit extreme.” But “I like extremes. I guess I’ve always operated that way.” Still, he says, “Angie and I do everything we can to carve out some semblance of normalcy for them, to re-create the kinds of moments that were special for us. It’s not unusual for the kids to be covered in paint. We have mud fights. It’s chaos from morning until the lights go out, and sometimes after that.”

Education? The older kids are home-schooled, but their parents try to create opportunities to socialize. The family sometimes sneaks past the paparazzi to an undisclosed location for a football game with friends.

Brad on private time with Angelina: Pitt and Jolie carve out time to nurture their own relationship as well. “There are no secrets at our house,” Pitt says, his blue eyes crinkling in a slightly wicked smile. “We tell the kids, ‘Mom and Dad are going off to kiss.’ They go, ‘Eww, gross!’ But we demand it.”

On aging: As he navigates his fifth decade, Pitt has begun to ponder the long term. “Will I be acting when I’m 80?” he asks rhetorically. “Definitely not.”

Goals for the future: A passionate amateur photographer and architect (whose Make It Right foundation is building environmentally sustainable homes in New Orleans for low-income residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina), he aims to explore those vocations more deeply in the coming years. He also wants to improve his French and his cooking skills — now limited to bacon, eggs and flapjacks. But Pitt won’t be trading in biker boots for house slippers anytime soon. “I hope to keep riding motorcycles,” he says with that devilish grin, “until I can’t stand up anymore.”

[From USA Weekend]

I guess the biggest news is that Brad and Angelina announce to their kids when they’re going to go off and have some private time. I think it’s cute. I’m sure there are people who will hate it, but meh. As for Brad’s continuing insistence that he’s going to stop acting at some point… he just needs to stop talking about it. So does Angelina. I’m tired of both of them “announcing” that they’re going to “stop at some point.” It feels like they’re doing a fake-threat to see how much love they get.

Photos courtesy of Fame & WENN.