Brad Pitt opens up about his children as he transforms into dreadlocked Rasta man for Interview magazine

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He earned his stripes in Hollywood as a cowboy hitchhiker and has been nominated for an Oscar as a man who ages in reverse.

Now, Brad Pitt has transformed into a dreaded Rasta man for Interview magazine. 

The 48-year-old star, photographed by Steven Klein, whips his head back in one image, accompanying his interview with Snatch director Guy Ritchie.

Dreaded: Brad Pitt sports the new look in a photograph shot by Steven Klein

Wearing a ripped sweater, and with a full goate, the actor shuts his eyes and appears to be adrift in his own world.

Other photographs shot by Klein show Hollywood's golden boy as a rake, a drifter and a hitman. 

Speaking to Ritchie, the Fight Club star reveals he's becoming more selective with his film roles to focus fatherhood. 

'I want it to be worthy enough of a story to leave the family, you know? They’re everything,' he says of his six children with Angelina Jolie. 'The family is first.'

Chameleon: The 48-year-old actor slipped into several different characters for the shoot

The actor said he feels accomplished enough in his career to be more discerning, admitting he feels now he can 'jump into anything and lay something down that's quality.'

Covered: The star features in Interview magazine's October/November 2012 issue

The actor shares Maddox, 11, Pax, eight, Zahara, seven, Shiloh, six, and four-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne with Jolie, says it's also important he doesn't 'embarrass' his brood.

But he's worked long enough to know exactly the type of person he might allow to pull him away from his role as a dad and future husband.

'...As I get older, it's about the company that I keep,' Pitt says.

'That's the most important thing to me - that if I'm gonna spend however long it takes to make a movie, give up 14 hours a day for however many weeks or months, then it's very important for me to know that I'm working with people who I respect and enjoy and that we're going for something together.

'That's it, really.'

Brad is next set to star Andrew Dominik film Killing Them Softly.

But the crime thriller, he says, is really meant to take a more serious look at American politics. 

'We're at a particularly ugly time when we're at such a divide in America, but that divide is not there because everyone is trying to figure out what’s best for the people,' he explains.

'It’s there because one side is trying to win out over the other side.'

Killing Them Softly is set for a crime thriller is set for a November 30 release.