After a split that left love and the celebrity world in shamblesBrad Pitt is opening up about life after Angelina Jolie, and how he's had some particularly lonely moments in the months since.

In a new interview with GQ StylePitt recalls the (very public) September 2016 fallout, which included tabloid gossip that the couple were engaged in a heated custody battle. Pitt and Jolie were together for 12 years and were married for two.

"I was really on my back and chained to a system when Child Services was called," Pitt says. "After that, we've been able to work together to sort this out. We're both doing our best. I heard one lawyer say, 'No one wins in court — it's just a matter of who gets hurt worse.' And it seems to be true. You spend a year just focused on building a case to prove your point and why you're right and why they're wrong, and it's just an investment in vitriolic hatred. I just refuse. And fortunately my partner in this agrees. It's just very, very jarring for the kids, to suddenly have their family ripped apart."

Pitt said he's learned that he's "really good at cutting myself off, and it's been a problem. I need to be more accessible, especially to the ones I love." And he's aiming to learn how to be more forthright, especially where his children are concerned.

"There's a lot to tell them because there's understanding the future, there's understanding the immediate moment and why we're at this point, and then it brings up a lot of issues from the past that we haven't talked about," he said. "So, our focus is that everyone comes out stronger and better people — there is no other outcome."

And though the actor says he's been in solitude lately, which has proved to be lonely, he's discovering what it takes to grow.

"I've got my feelings in my fingertips again," he explains. "I think that's part of the human challenge: You either deny them all of your life or you answer them and evolve."

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