This one probably should have been filed under celebrity gossip or something, but we don’t have a category for that. Anyway, according to the PR Inside website, Brad Pitt is learning to play the mandolin. And not for a role he’s playing. He’s doing it for a role Angelina Jolie is playing. She’s playing Mariane Pearl, wife of murdered US journalist Daniel Pearl in a movie titled A Mighty Heart.

Brad, who is a producer on the movie, is helping her immerse herself in the role by attempting to emulate Daniel in almost every way, including learning to play the instrument he was accomplished in.

Brad - who has no acting part in the film - spends hours discussing the relationship between Daniel and Mariane with Angelina while strumming his mandolin.

The role of Daniel is actually being played by Dan Futterman, who starred in ‘Shooting Fish’ and ‘The Birdcage’. I haven’t seen or heard anything to suggest that Mr. Futterman is learning mandolin or fiddle. Speaking of which, wasn’t Daniel Pearl more of a violin/fiddle player than a mandolin player? But I guess asking Brad Pitt to learn fiddle might be a bit much, mandolin will do.