What Brad Pitt said about his 'extraordinary' wife Jennifer Aniston months before split

Brad Pitt had called his marriage with Jennifer Aniston not interesting enough, in an interview given six years after their 2005 split. However, the actor couldn't stop himself from gushing about his then-wife in the interviews he gave when they were still married in 2004.

Brad Pitt fell for Angelina Jolie when they were shooting together for "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" in 2004 when he was still married to Jennifer Aniston. 2004 also marked the year when Jennifer Aniston finished the last season of the iconic sitcom "Friends" and started the next phase of her career in the entertainment industry.

That same year, the "Ad Astra" actor had given a couple of candid interviews about his relationship with the "Friends" alum, which gave no hint of any trouble in their marriage, reports the Mirror. In a conversation with Vanity Fair just months before he started filming with Jolie, the Oscar-winner had sung praises for his wife and called her the "warmth they all gather around."

"Her emphasis is home, friends, and family. We all kind of crowd around her like moths to the flame. She's like a magnet; she brings a lot of people together that way. Jen's the fireplace; she provides the warmth," the actor gushed.

The 56-year-old repeated similar sentiments when he spoke about their marriage in a conversation with Oprah Winfrey, and said: "She's one of the warmest people I meet and we do all crowd around her. She's like that fire we crowd around for warmth. This is truly genuine."

"There's not an ill-intention bone on this woman's body. She's really extraordinary and she's taught me a lot that way. She brings people that way," he added in the interview.

However, to the dismay of the couple's fans, they separated within a year of that interview as Aniston filed for divorce citing "irreconcilable differences" while speculations of a budding romance between Pitt and Jolie filled the media. In his later interviews, the father-of-six never spoke ill of his former wife but ended up making some rather insensitive remarks about their marriage.

Aniston, meanwhile, admitted in her interviews that she felt upset by his actions and remarks in the media about their marriage. The "Murder Mystery" actress also clarified that she believes Pitt would never hurt her on purpose, but there is "a sensitivity chip that's missing."

A lot has changed since Pitt and Aniston's marriage 20 years ago, as the duo have since reconciled and become friends. The actor is also believed to be on better terms with Jolie, with whom he co-parents their six children since splitting in 2016.