Brad Pitt Watch

Here is a transcription of Brad’s full interview with the Today show this morning! Also, Brad will be on Larry King on Wednesday to discuss this project even more - you can e-mail your questions to him here - and if you do, you can always drop a line that you heard about the interview from Brad Pitt Watch!

Anne Curry: We’re here in New Orleans with Brad Pitt where he’s unveiling his new project called Make It Right. Good morning Brad.

Brad: Good morning.

Anne: You’re launching a new effort here – your plan is to build 150 homes, maybe more?

B: Well, we’re gonna start with 150 homes - this area where we’re standing right now they lost over 5,000. I’m hoping we can expand here and expand to the rest of New Orleans – there’s no reason why we need to stop here. We’ve got a really good group of people working here, we’ve got some great designs, and it’s just gonna be if we can get the financial support to make up the difference that people need to return to their homes.

Anne: Let’s remind people what happened here in the lower 9th ward – in fact, the area is still shattered. This was Katrina’s ground zero, one of the poorest communities. Let’s take a walk now and see what you have in mind. These buildings are wrapped in pink so that they can be seen – you say – from Google Earth?

Brad: (laughs) well I’d love to see this from Google Earth! Especially at night.

Anne: Represent where you want the homes eventually to go.

Brad: Well this is, this is an art instillation, it’s a social statement, but most of all it’s a fundraising tool.

Read the rest of the interview below!

Anne: But what makes you think you can pull this off Brad?

Brad: We can do it – it’s ready to go – it’s just a matter now of how many we can do. We called on 13 great architects to come in, we’ve got great designs and people, the community that shaped this thing – we’re all ready to go.

Anne: We’ve actually got some pictures you gave us that revealed for the first time what these homes are going to look like – residents actually get to pick which homes they’d like…you’ve already got seven people that have chosen homes.

Brad: Right, right – we’re going to have people in homes by the end of next summer.

Anne: Next summer?

Brad: Yeah, you’re gonna see the communities come back.

Anne: You donated 5 million dollars of your own money – or your pledging – you’ve got somebody else pledging 5 million dollars and you’re asking the American people to step up to help.

Brad: That’s what this is. This is really an adopt a house campaign. I’m asking for foundations, for high network individuals, for church groups, for corporations to come in and adopt a house. $150,000 will get a family back into their homes.

Anne: You actually think even Joe and Ma Smith at home with a dollar – if they go to a website….

Brad: It works on that level too. If they come on the website you can adopt a low flush toilet or solar panel, these are all sustainable…

Anne: For Christmas?

Brad: For Christmas, yeah –

Anne: Rather than that sweater you…

Brad: That’s my hope, yeah – if you go on and do that, I’m gonna get my dad a tankless water heater – I just spoiled the surprise – but that’s my hope here, it’s a call on the American people to come here during the holiday season – to come to our website, and to help these families get back into their homes.

Anne: And people who have no connection to New Orleans, why should they do this?

Brad: Well, I mean, you know, listen, I’m not much of a salesman. I can’t tell people…either you’re moved, or your not. But for me, I think of a father who once had a home here and raised my kids here and if I lost everything and had no way to return, how that would make me feel. And then the fact that other Americans would come and help me out and help me…create a path for me to come back to my roots, to my home, would mean everything to me – restore my faith in humanity. We’re gonna do that.

Mr. Green over here, he’s living I a trailer. He lost his granddaughter and he lost his mother – right here, where we stand, jumping from roof to roof. You gotta understand this place, where we are, within 20 minutes the water level was up to 18 feet. People were forced to their roofs, their house off the foundations, having to jump to other roofs, and it’s a huge tragedy that left a big scar, and it’s a big scar now because these people are in limbo.

Anne: You can do this because of the love of your fans. Because you’ve got people that care about you and it gives you power to bring attention to all of this. Your fans, a lot of them, want to know how you have time to do this. Here you are, you’re an actor, you’re a father of four kids, all under the age of 7, we see you as a play on the ground, hands on kinda guy…

Brad: Oh I..I…I…I…I don’t know…I see this as a great opportunity to…I find this more fulfilling…as any film I’ve been in.

Anne: When you stack up your priorities, how do you prioritize…

Brad: Well it’s gonna be family first, certainly, but that love of my family brings me here.

Anne: And does doing this come before movies?

Brad: ummm…yeah, sure, I guess so. I don’t see why I have to let anything go at this point. But right now yeah, this is the focus and we’re gonna see this through.

Anne: And more than 150, so this could be a long term project.

Brad: Yeah! I mean, we should be down here for years. We’ll go as long as we’ve got the support. So I’m really hoping that folks will come to the website, www.makeitrightnola.org, and check us out and see what we’re doing here.

Anne: Brad Pitt, you know what? Multi-tasker – a man who likes pink, full of surprises. Thank you. And we want to tell everybody that if you didn’t get the website, you can find a link to it on our website, www.todayshow.com.

Meredith Viera: Thank you, and I want to ask the pictures of those houses, they look like they’re on stilts – is that because of concerns that there could be flooding again in the area?

Anne: (repeats question to Brad)

Brad: yeah, absolutely, there’s no question if you live in San Francisco you’re going to go through another earthquake, and there will be flooding here again, and so the requirements for the architects were affordability, sustainability, safety, one of the key issues, and that they be beautiful. Yeah, these homes will be built – the height restrictions – to keep people who, if they have to weather out a storm, keep them safe. There’s other safety precautions built into the buildings where you can get higher and safety kits working, but it’s a big focus.

Anne: And Meredith, Brad actually had some of the biggest names in architecture involved in these drawings and I think there are about thirteen different types of homes that people can choose from..

Brad: yeah, right now, and again we hope to bring in more architects and keep building on this catalog and make it available for everyone.

Anne: Thank you Brad.

The photos are all of the different houses that will be built for the project - you can see more at the site above!