The tired, greying figure who arrived at the San Sebastian film festival in Spain last week has left fans and friends alike wondering what has happened to the real Brad Pitt. And it's a question even he is now asking — with the star desperate to win back the life he has lost since hooking up with Angelina Jolie less than four years ago.

With his scruffy grey beard, puffy eyes and sallow skin, the actor who was once voted the "Sexiest Man in the World" appears to have aged more than a decade since he left wife Jennifer Aniston in 2005 to be with Angelina.

Endless sleepless nights spent tending to the couple's six young children, Maddox, 8, Pax, 5, Zahara, 4, Shiloh, 3, and 14-month-old twins Knox and Vivienne, as well as a string of bitter rows with Ange and constant travelling to keep up with her gypsy lifestyle, have all conspired to age him dramatically. "The kids are keeping me up," Brad recently complained. "They're a handful.

"They give me so little sleep that I'm trying to get some wherever I can — on a plane, in traffic, wherever."

With the couple this month finally taking a rest at their property in France, Brad had been desperately hoping for an extended breather — not only for the children but for himself.

However, France was not to be the emotional time-out Brad was hoping for, with Angelina reportedly taking herself off the contraceptive pill and laying on the pressure for a seventh child.

But after months of holding his tongue out of concern for his family, Brad snapped. Angrily telling Ange that she was killing him, Brad put his foot down.