It’s the question that Robin Givens is constantly asked: What was it like to date Brad Pitt? Back in the 1980s – before either of them were big stars – the 54-year-old Ambitions actress and the future father-of-six struck up a romance. They were both in their 20s, trying to make their mark in Hollywood. She was making a name for herself as a co-star in the sitcom Head of the Class and Brad was a few years away from becoming a household name thanks to his unforgettable sexy shirtless scene in 1991’s Thelma & Louise. “It’s such a long time ago,” Robin said during an EXCLUSIVE interview with HollywoodLife while promoting her OWN drama, Ambitions, on Nov. 12.
“He was always such a wonderful person,” she added, before revealing how they met. “It’s so funny. We met in acting class. I was doing Head of the Class. We really both loved acting. He couldn’t get a job.” Robin remembered that when Brad, now 55, finally booked a gig he was “so excited.”
Coincidentally the two acting students got a chance to work on the same show professionally. “We were in acting class and then he was booked on Head of the Class, which is how we met the second time. I was like, ‘Wait, you were just in Tuesday’s acting class.’”
Robin and Brad’s lives went into different directions. She married boxing champ Mike Tyson who alleged in his 2013 memoir, Undisputed Truth, that he found his wife and the heartthrob in bed together. Robin, however, denied this ever happened during a June 2019 appearance on Watch What Happens Live. Tyson and Robin divorced in 1989 and she went on to marry tennis instructor Svetozar Marinkovic in 1997, but they split after a year’s marriage.
Brad went on to date celebs like Juliette Lewis and Gwyneth Paltrow, before marrying and divorcing Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie, with whom he has six children. Robin, who is now mom to two sons – Michael, 27, and William, 20 – hasn’t spoken to or seen her ex in years. She did see him on the big screen in Quentin Tarantino’s summer hit, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and – like everyone else on the planet – she thinks Brad looks great. “I loved it. I thought he looked really good,” she said, adding, “I love people when they get better with time because, in a way, from the inside you want to get better. So you want the outside to kind of last as you’re figuring it out.”
Robin stars as scheming lawyer Stephanie Lancaster in Ambitions, which airs on OWN on Tuesday nights at 10pm.