Brad Pitt no longer an atheist

Actor Brad Pitt poses. His new film 'Ad Astra' was screened at the 76th Venice Film Festival 2019.Reuters/Yara Nardi

Actor Brad Pitt, who has publicly declared himself an atheist for years, has now said that he was just being "rebellious" when professing that he didn't believe in God.

Pitt has said, "Oh, man, I've gone through everything. Like, I cling to religion. I grew up with Christianity. Always questioned it, but it worked at times. And then when I got on my own, I completely left it and I called myself agnostic. Tried a few spiritual things but didn't feel right."

He continued, "Then I called myself an atheist for a while, just kind of being rebellious. I wasn't really. But I kinda labeled myself that for a while. It felt punk rock enough. And then I found myself coming back around to just belief in— I hate to use the word spirituality, but just a belief in that we're all connected."

Pitt, 55, was raised a Southern Baptist, but as he grew older he seemingly became more disillusioned with the Christian faith.  In a 2009 interview , when asked if he believed in God, he emphatically replied: "No, no, no!"

"I'm probably 20 percent atheist and 80 percent agnostic. I don't think anyone really knows. You'll either find out or not when you get there, until then there's no point thinking about it."

In a 2011 interview with Extra he again addressed his issue with religion and faith: "I got brought up being told things were God's way, and when things didn't work out it was called God's plan. I've got my issues with it. Don't get me started. I found it very stifling."

Another time, he again spoke about relating more to atheism than Christianity, saying: "I grew up very religious, and I don't have a great relationship with religion. I oscillate between agnosticism and atheism."

Pitt's comments about his faith have come as he promotes his new movie "Ad Astra".

In the movie, Pitt portrays Roy McBride, who is "on a mission across an unforgiving solar system to uncover the truth about his missing father and his doomed expedition that now, 30 years later, threatens the universe."