You've seen Brad Pitt's image in movies, on television, staring back at you from glossy magazine covers and maybe even pinned to your bedroom wall. But absolutely nothing can prepare a gal for seeing this big-screen god in person. Whew! He is take-your-breath-away handsome.

With his trademark chiseled cheekbones and pouty lips, Brad strode into Manhattan's Essex House Hotel wearing worn jeans, a snug yellow short-sleeve polo shirt (revealing his Herculean arms) and a movie star smile. He held a tough black leather jacket coolly over his shoulder, and a pair of pricey sunglasses dangled from his collar. His long, bleached-out Troy hair extensions? Gone. In their place, a new supershort cropped 'do.

Despite being one of the most highly paid actors (he banked a cool $20 mil for Mr. and Mrs. Jones), his interests extend outside the boundaries of Hollywood. Before filming Troy, inspired by Homer's The Iliad, Brad took two years off from making movies to oversee the renovation of the Los Angeles mansion he purchased with wife Jennifer Aniston (parts of which he designed himself) and to pursue some of his other passions like photography and architecture. In fact, his photos appear in a book, Greene & Greene: The Blacker House, and he recently began an internship with star architect Frank Gehry.