Nick Cave saved Brad Pitt from the ‘misery’ of divorcing Angelina Jolie

In a revealing new interview, Hollywood A-lister Brad Pitt explains how Aussie rocker Nick Cave became the “joy in my life”.

Brad Pitt has spoken about his bromance with Australian rock legend Nick Cave and how “shared trauma” saved him from the misery of his divorce from Angelina Jolie.

In a cover story for the Financial Times, the Hollywood star and the Wangaratta musician, joined by British artist Thomas Houseago, spoke of how the trio’s close friendship helped them heal.

“Our mutual misery became comic,” Pitt, 58, told FT of his fast friendship with Houseago, who he was introduced to through his long-time mate, Cave.

“And out of this misery came a flame of joy in my life.”

Australian musician Nick Cave, Thomas Houseago, and Brad Pitt at The Sara Hilden Art Museum in Tampere, Finland. Picture: AFP

The rare insight into the immediate aftermath of Pitt’s divorce comes just days after ex-wife Jolie filed a lawsuit claiming an alleged physical altercation between the couple in 2016.

In the months following their split, Pitt said he spent time making sculptures in a Los Angeles art studio, where Houseago said the three were “thrown together in trauma and catastrophe”.

Cave, who has known Pitt since they both starred in the 1991 film Johnny Suede, said they started meeting up as a group, with dinners joined by, among others Melbourne-born Flea, from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, director Spike Jones, and filmmaker Andrew Dominik, who directed the documentary about the album Cave created after the death of his son.

“A weird, diverse collection of people who would sit around a table on weekends,” Cave told FT.

“Normally, I just work away and do my thing, and I have my friends and all of that sort of stuff. But we were allowed to talk about anything. And, for me, that was a very freeing situation to be in,” he added.

Nick Cave and Brad Pitt in Finland.

Brad Pitt in 1991 film Johnny Suede, where he struck up a friendship with Nick Cave. Picture: Supplied

For Pitt, doing his own thing and holding everything within like his dad’s “Clint Eastwood” generation, was exhausting.

“As I get older, I find such a comfort in friendships where you can be [completely yourself], and I want that to extend in the outer world. What people make of it: I’m fine,” Pitt told FT.

People will be able to make of it what they will as the trio’s art is being exhibited at a new exhibition at the Sara Hildén Art Museum in Tampere, Finland.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie attending the premiere of Maleficent at Kensington Palace, London. Picture: PA Images via Getty Images

In a photo shoot to promote the exhibition, Cave spoke of how close the three friends had become since their bromance first began six years ago.

“This is what it’s been like: I woke up this morning, made a coffee in my underwear and noticed that Brad was sitting there,” Cave said.

“He started playing the guitar and sang one of my songs to me — “Palaces of Montezuma” — and then Thomas walked in [in his pyjamas] and joined in.”

Originally published as Nick Cave saved Brad Pitt from the ‘misery’ of divorcing Angelina Jolie