How Brad Pitt rekindled his love affair with the UK

Brad Brit! Rural pubs, rides in the country and that trip to Wimbledon. How the Hollywood legend rekindled his summer love affair with the UK

When Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie spent the summer in Britain in 2012, they vowed to make it their second home.

More than a decade later, and now entangled in a bitter, long-running divorce battle with Ms Jolie, the Hollywood heart-throb is back and has fallen in love with the UK again.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that the Fight Club actor has spent weeks here letting his hair down after filming his new movie about Formula 1 racing. He has been based at the exclusive Soho Farmhouse near the Oxfordshire village of Great Tew, staying in one of their A-list cabins previously used by his friend Tom Cruise and British actor Simon Pegg.

Sources close to Pitt, who turns 60 in December, also say that he fell in love with a traditional British pub in the market town of Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, where they were filming scenes for his movie, rumoured to be called Apex, in which he plays a fictional F1 driver called Sonny Hayes.

He sipped pints at the idyllic Globe Inn, on the banks of the Grand Union canal, along with his co-stars and other staff working on the film. The traditional menu includes scampi and chips for £11.99 and sausage and mash for £11.89.

Match made in heaven: Brad Pitt in the Royal Box at Wimbledon for the men’s final last Sunday

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The real life Benjamin Button! Brad Pitt looked youthful as he was pictured filming his new F1 movie at Silverstone Circuit on Thursday

It is 25 miles from Silverstone, where Pitt was seen filming on the same weekend as the British Grand Prix earlier this month. It is also close to the movie studios in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, where much of the film is being made for Apple TV.

One source said: ‘Brad loves traditionally English things, including a really nice pub. It was closed for a week for filming but Brad just loved it there so would stay after filming and enjoy a drink.’ 

The star was also in the Royal Box at Wimbledon last Sunday to watch Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz defeat Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in the men’s final.

He has been enjoying rides in the English countryside in a chauffeur-driven Range Rover.

He has also regularly visited his close friend George Clooney at his £10 million Grade II-listed riverside home in Sonning, Berkshire, which he shares with wife Amal.

Like previous visitors to the actor’s house, including the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the Obamas, Pitt stayed overnight after visiting the local pubs. The source added: ‘It was lovely to have a friend so nearby.’

Pitt has also regularly taken a private helicopter across the Channel to France to visit his vineyard, Chateau Miraval in Provence, which he bought with Ms Jolie for around £25 million in 2008.

Sadly, it seems that his British summer could be brought to an end sooner than he thought after he stopped filming in solidarity with US writers and actors who are striking over higher pay and protesting about the use of artificial intelligence. 

He had been due to fly to other grand prix events in Europe to film scenes. But stunt doubles are now being used instead.

The Fight Club actor has spent weeks here letting his hair down after filming his new movie about Formula 1 racing (pictured at Silverstone)

He sipped pints at the idyllic Globe Inn, on the banks of the Grand Union canal, along with his co-stars and other staff working on the film about Formula 1

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer visited Pitt for a drink at The Globe Inn last week to talk about how they would adjust filming in light of the industrial action.

This month the actor was seen racing an adapted Formula 2 car at Silverstone for the movie, which is also being produced by Lewis Hamilton. In the new film, Pitt plays a veteran driver returning to the sport after a 30-year absence. 

In 2012 Pitt and Ms Jolie lived in a mansion in Richmond, south-west London. That summer they were seen at their local Halfords store, Wimbledon and the Olympics.

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