Brad Pitt Gets Candid About 'Boozing Too Much,' 'Stoner Days' and the 'Bittersweet' Feeling of Getting Sober

Brad Pitt is opening up about his history with substance abuse.

"I can't remember a day since I got out of college where I wasn't boozing or had a spliff, or something," the actor says in a candid new interview with GQ Style, revealing that he's been sober for the last six months.

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"You realize that a lot of it is, um- cigarettes, you know, pacifiers," he adds. "And I'm running from feelings. I'm really, really happy to be done with all of that. I mean, I stopped everything except boozing when I started my family. But even this last year, you know - things I wasn't dealing with. I was boozing too much. It's just become a problem. And I'm really happy it's been half a year now, which is bittersweet."

The 53-year-old actor says that "truthfully, I could drink a Russian under the table with his own vodka. I was a professional. I was good." But he's since replaced alcohol with "cranberry juice and fizzy water."

"I've got the cleanest urinary tract in all of L.A., I guarantee you," he cracks.

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"The terrible thing is, I tend to run things into the ground. That’s why I’ve got to make something so calamitous. I’ve got to run it off a cliff," he continues. "I do it with everything, yeah. I exhaust it, and then I walk away. I’ve always looked at things in seasons, compartmentalized them, I guess, seasons or semesters or tenures."

Looking to his past, Pitt references a period of time that he calls "my stoner days."

"I wanted to smoke a joint with Jack and Snoop and Willie. You know, when you're a stoner, you get these really stupid ideas," he says. "Well, I don't want to indict the others, but I haven't made it to Willie yet."

Though Pitt says he ultimately realized that he didn't want to live that way anymore, he also isn't struggling with regrets.

"In the end, you find: I am those things I don’t like. That is a part of me. I can’t deny that. I have to accept that. And in fact, I have to embrace that. I need to face that and take care of that. Because by denying it, I deny myself," he explains.

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"I am those mistakes. For me, every misstep has been a step toward epiphany, understanding, some kind of joy. Yeah, the avoidance of pain is a real mistake. It’s the real missing out on life. It’s those very things that shape us, those very things that offer growth, that make the world a better place, oddly enough, ironically, that make us better."

The interview marks the first time that Pitt has spoken publicly about his divorce from Angelina Jolie. In January, the former couple issued a joint statement announcing that they've both signed agreements to keep all their court documents private, and said that they were "committed to act as a united front to effectuate recovery and reunification."

Last month, sources told ET that both Pitt and 41-year-old Jolie remained primarily focused on their children -- not on dating.

"Everything is going well; the family is getting along and keeping things private," the source says. "That is his sole focus right now."

For more on Brangelina's post-split life, watch below.

EXCLUSIVE: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Are Not Currently Dating Anyone

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