Jean Smart Recalls Costar Brad Pitt Consoling Her About Late Husband: 'He Was Incredibly Kind'

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Jean Smart is recalling a memorable moment when Brad Pitt shared his condolences after the death of her husband, Richard Gilliland.

While on the red carpet at the Golden Globes 2023 on Tuesday, the Hacks star and nominee, 71, shared what it was like working with Pitt, 59, and Margot Robbie on the new film Babylon. Smart called both of them "so lovely" and "incredible professionals" who are "so funny and sweet."

"I do remember the day after the Emmys before last," she recalled to Variety, "and we were shooting Babylon. And I was sitting in a chair just kind of waiting, and Brad came over, and he had watched the Emmys, so he knelt down next to my chair, and he took my hand and he congratulated me and gave me his condolences about losing my husband. He said, 'I had no idea you'd been going through that. He was incredibly kind."

"That's what makes him Brad Pitt," she added.

Gilliland, an actor who met Smart when he joined the cast of the CBS sitcom Designing Women, died on March 18, 2021, at age 71. In her acceptance speech at the Emmys that September, Smart paid tribute to her late husband. She won outstanding lead actress in a comedy series that year for Hacks.

RELATED: Jean Smart Says Being a Single Mother Has Been 'Unimaginable': 'Hardest Thing I've Ever Done'

Frazer Harrison/WireImage Jean Smart

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"Before I say anything else, I have to acknowledge my late husband Richard Gilliland, who passed away six months yesterday," she said at the time. "I would not be here without him, without his sort of putting his career on the back burner so that I could take advantage of all the wonderful opportunities that I've had."

In the press room afterward, Smart teared up when talking about her win: "It was very moving. I didn't expect that. To have your peers' respect is huge. It's meant a lot because it's been such a difficult last six months, so this has been something that has been kind of a strange counterpoint, but it's been very much appreciated."

She added that her husband "would be very happy for me."

Smart told Rolling Stone in December about her husband's sudden death, saying, "It's shocking. You hear about it happening to other people all the time, but when it happens to you, it absolutely knocks you sideways. I find it almost harder now, a year and a half later, because you're kind of running on adrenaline and grief for a while, making sure your kids are okay, just getting things done."

"Now, slowly, the reality of my new life is setting in, and I find that very, very, very, very sad, very lonely," she added.

Babylon is now in theaters.

The 80th Golden Globe Awards ceremony is airing live on Tuesday, Jan. 10, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.