THE face is hardly wrinkled and the long blond locks appear unchanged, but Brad Pitt, who turned 49 this month, is increasingly preoccupied with the passage of time and the thought that his rarefied place in movies is fleeting.

It's been more than 20 years since Pitt broke out as the heartthrob of "Thelma & Louise." While nothing has diminished his status as one of the planet's few genuine movie stars, Pitt's now working as if an expiration date lurks.

"I'm definitely past halfway," said Pitt. "I think about it very much as a father. You just want to be around to see your children do everything. If I have so many days left, how am I filling them? I've been agonizing over that one a bit like I never have before."

But that sense of urgency has helped fuel some of Pitt's best, most daring work, including his new film, "Killing Them Softly" (2012). It's his second with Andrew Dominik, the New Zealand-born director of "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (2007). In the adaption of George V. Higgins' 1974 crime novel, "Cogan's Trade," Pitt plays a hit man operating in a shabby underworld of image-conscious gangsters.

It's almost surprising how few blockbusters Pitt has starred in over the last decade. Instead, he's gravitated toward working with revered directors like Terrence Malick ("Tree of Life," 2011) and the Coen brothers, and shaping his opportunities by producing them. His production company, Plan B, produced both "Jesse James" and "Killing Them Softly," as well as many of his films in between.

More often than not, he's downplayed his glamour, starting with David Fincher's "Fight Club"(1999) and extended with ruminations on celebrity (Dominik's "Jesse James") and more character actor roles than most leading men would dare (his ditzy personal trainer in the Coens' "Burn After Reading" in 2008 and his Nazi-killing lieutenant in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" in 2009).

"Killing Them Softly," too, is an ensemble, with James Gandolfini, Richard Jenkins, Ray Liotta, Scoot McNairy and Ben Mendelsohn.

Even in last year's performance as Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane in "Moneyball" (for which he landed his third Oscar nomination), Pitt deliberately played it low-key.

"Life is more interesting," said the Missouri-bred Pitt. "I enjoy the fantasy; I enjoy when everyone wins. I just don't contribute to that idea very well, for better or worse. There's something subversive in my Christian upbringing or something, my mid-America upbringing. That irreverent urge that makes you want to yell or fart during the Benediction in church. I just can't help it."

And yet, Pitt has simultaneously carried the movie star mantle with seeming ease. Though his relationship with Angelina Jolie, with whom he has six children, has made him a constant tabloid target, he's relaxed and unguarded in conversation. He says his celebrity "hasn't bugged me since the 1990s," but he acknowledges that he occasionally trades on it: "I mean, I play some smart ball," he said.

"The difficulty with Brad was always: What can you cast a movie star in?" said Dominik. "You have to deal with it and cast him as someone extraordinary. He's the cool guy in the movie."

Certainly a very un-"Fight Club" thing to do was the recent Chanel ad campaign in which Pitt stars, smoldering in black-and-white and saying things like "It's not a journey" into the camera. The spots were mocked on "Saturday Night Live," to which Pitt says cheerfully: "Fair play, fair play."

So why do it?

"Never done it before," said Pitt. "Respect the company. I'm getting old. Last time I'll probably be able to do something like that."

It's a line of reasoning that seems pervasive in Pitt's choices right now, including his current project: "World War Z." It's a zombie action film reportedly budgeted at US$180 million that could give Pitt what his resume is missing: a franchise.

"I'm not a franchise guy," he said. "They told me I should focus on that, as I'm getting older, cresting the precipice and heading down the other side: 'You should bank one of those.' I'm just not good at it."

It's also a far bigger scale production for Pitt and Plan B, and things haven't gone smoothly. The ending is being reshot - typically a bad sign - and Pitt calls the film "a total learning experience." When the film finally wraps, he said, "Believe me, I'll be celebrating."

Dede Gardner, Pitt's producing partner, says getting older has only made Pitt more patient.

"He's extremely careful," said Gardner. "I suppose that's one thing that happens if you age with consciousness, to be vigilant."

Their other coming productions are smaller, more director-driven. Plan B is producing the next film by Steve McQueen ("Shame"), "12 Years a Slave," and will again produce a film by Dominik: his planned Marilyn Monroe biopic "Blonde."

Though "Jesse James" made a scant US$4 million, Pitt has stuck with the director.

"Somewhere in the late 1990s, it became clear to me that there were many leading men roles that you could plug anyone of us into and virtually get the same thing," said Pitt. "Because there's such an investment of time and thought, I wanted to find stories that were more personal to me, in which I could add something unique."

"Killing Them Softly," is certainly that, a film that probably wouldn't exist if not for Pitt. It's an unusual mix of genre - gangsters and guns - and politics. Set in 2008, the fiscal crisis looms large, with speeches by Bush and Obama inserted as an obvious metaphor. Pitt's character declares: "America isn't a country. It's a business."

Between balletic slow-motion violence, Dominik stages Higgins' dialogue in long scenes that give the actors theater-like room.

Gandolfini had twice previously worked with Pitt. "We were both at the beginning of our careers," said Gandolfini. "He's the same guy. He's a good guy, a regular guy."

Today, despite any concerns about "cresting the precipice," Pitt exudes contentment and confidence. He attributes his acting ability to "craftsmanship."

In his personal life, he and Jolie are planning to marry, after once saying they wouldn't until gay marriage was legal.

"It's an exciting prospect, even though for us, we've gone further than that," said Pitt. "But to concretize it in that way. It actually means more to me than I thought it would. It means a lot to our kids."

As he approaches 50, Pitt's career longevity even surprises him.

"It's amazing I've stuck with this this long because I'm not usually like that. I hit the road," said Pitt. "Exploring within it has been the thing that's kept me in it." Highlights of Brad Pitt's acting career

1991 "Thelma and Louis"

With only 15 minutes on screen, Brad Pitt grows from a nobody to the hottest sex idol in Hollywood.

1994 "Legends of the Fall"

Playing against Anthony Hopkins, Pitt overshadows other stars with his unrestrained character. He was named by People magazine the sexiest man ever and nominated for the Best Actor for the Golden Globe Awards.

1995 "Seven"

Pitt teamed up with Morgan Freeman and played hotheaded but righteous detective David Mills to track down a serial killer.

1999 "Fight Club"

Pitt plays a soap salesman whose craziness is just right. His performance in the film proves he's no longer Hollywood eye candy.

2005 "Mr and Mrs Smith"

Pitt hooked up with his co-star Angelina Jolie on site and finally divorced his first wife Jennifer Aniston. The two became the most eye-catching and talked-about couple, "Brangelina."

2006 "Babel"

Pitt shows a very different side from his usual, charming McDreamy, playing a graying, broken father struggling to save his family.

2007 "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"

Pitt won an award for Best Actor in the Venice Film Festival for his role as the notorious American outlaw Jesse James.

2008 "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Set over a period of nine decades, Pitt plays Benjamin Button who lives "backwards" from the appearance and physical ailments of an 87-year-old man to an infant. Pitt was nominated for a best actor Oscar.

2008 "Burn After Reading"

In this Coen Brothers black comedy "spy" thriller, Pitt plays a knuckle-headed fitness instructor who thinks he has come across classified information.

2010 "Tree of Life"

The drama with experimental effects explores the origins and meaning of life. Pitt has a role as an aging, overly strict father who deeply loves his children. The film shows Pitt's preference for art films.

2011 "Moneyball"

Pitt as Oakland A's general manager helps the film transcend the sports movie cliche. He is nominated for Oscar's Best Actor.