by Paul Fischer

Brad Pitt is in good form as he jibes and jokes with the press while promoting Oceans Twelve, the sequel to the 2001 hit comedy/heist thrillfilm. While Jude Law may now have taken over as sexiest man alive, Pitt is unconcerned. "I think Matt was more shaken by it, as he campaigned hard and put up a good fight. I think, if he keeps applying himself like he has been this year, we'll see some greatness from him this year. George and I started a class, as former sexiest men alive and we're working with the young-uns and of course Jude's at the top of his class immediately. It was obvious to us that he was a natural, so we had great hopes for that."

Pitt sets the tone and does so with tongue often implanted in cheek, especially when talking about the on-set camaraderie this time around. "I'd like to call it work but it was pretty much automatic for us. First of all, there's a very low level of maturity amongst all the guys there so that helps. We bonded very quickly, then we got the beautiful women to make us look better but it's pretty automatic," comes Pitt's quick response, adding comments about star Clooney's behaviour on set. "His prima donna behaviour became a problem on this movie and he can paint it anyway he wants to but it was a problem," now referring to Pitt's circulated memo, which indeed did make the Italian press. Asked if any pranks were played on new cast member Catherine Zeta-Jones, Pitt offers a smile. "I think the biggest joke was on Catherine because she actually thought we were making a movie. Being the new kid, nobody told her because she was up running lines and breaking down her character," he adds laughingly. But seriously, he says he wanted Catherine for the elegant female in this film for obvious reasons. "We were just excited to get Catherine first of all because she brings this great elegance to it and a lot of the film was going to be focused on her own and she was going to have to carry that thing, so it would have to be someone who could carry that kind of weight. The great thing about Catherine is there is this great beauty and elegance but at the same time, she'll drink any one of you under the table."

Oceans 12 was shot in Europe and Pitt says it is tough to compare these European locales to Vegas. "Europe and Vegas are just the antithesis of each other as far as culture and lack of culture, I guess. Bright neon and everything new versus history and ancient-just the patina of the old cities lead to a completely different feel and I guess, a completely different feel visually to the film, so, I really don't know how to describe them," says the actor.

Next up for Pitt, is Mr and Mrs Smith, and he says he hopes to do some more producing. Always a fierce critic of himself, he has reservations about watching himself on screen, Oceans 12 included. "I'm critical, but I think it's a healthy criticism. What I could make better in the future, what did I miss on that day maybe but also what works and it's a constant study in film and acting. To answer your question seriously, it's just a constant study and most of the time I find it's not a right answer, but just different directions that can all get you to the same end result in a way. But no, I don't rush to see it when it's done. I'm pretty flexible with it."