Brad Pitt comforted a suicidal fan following a special screening of his new movie 'Moneyball'.

The 47-year-old Hollywood star was initially shocked when the aspiring actor revealed at a special Q&A for the movie that he had been struggling with suicidal thoughts earlier in the day and said the baseball biopic gave him "a renewed sense of hope" but Brad quickly recovered and offered some words of wisdom to the man.

A source told USmagazine.com: "Brad said 'Look, man, life is up and down, it's a vicious cycle, but you have to go through it and deal with that. You can be down, but then you come back up again, and every failure can lead to success'.

"Brad handled the situation really well in front of several hundred people - it was a difficult moment that shocked everyone."

Another insider added: "It was a touching moment. As he left he even stopped to talk with the guy to offer him some more words of encouragement because he was obviously fragile."