Brad & Jen's Heart to Heart

Blindsided by Angelina Jolie’s request for a divorce, Brad Pitt seeks support from an old friend: his ex-wife, Jennifer Aniston.

According to a well-placed source, Brad Pitt has always felt bad about the way he ended things with Jennifer Aniston. Still, it seems unlikely that she’d be one of the first people he’d have reached out to when his marriage to Angelina Jolie — the woman he left her for — imploded. But a source says that’s exactly what happened: Yes, shortly after Angelina filed for divorce from Brad on Sept. 19, the 52-year-old ac tor received a short-but-sweet supportive text from his ex-wife — and then found himself struck by an irresistible urge to speak to her. “Amid all the craziness he was dying to talk to Jen,” the source says, “He knew she was one of the few people who could understand how he was feeling and give him some good advice.”

The source says Brad “paced in his house” for hours, debating whether to call. His hesitance is understandable. Though their split was fairly amicable — especially compared to the way that things are going with Angelina, 41, who’s suing for full physical custody of the couple’s six kids and waging a nasty war in the press — Brad and Jen haven’t exactly been tight over the last dozen years. (For one thing, Angelina never would have stood for it!) But he needn’t have worried: When he finally did dial her number, Jen, 47, was more than happy to hear from him.