Brad Pitt focuses on family rather than friends

Brad Pitt is happier than ever after reducing his friendship circle and concentrating on his family.

The actor is a father of six with fiancee Angelina Jolie, and admits he has never felt as content as when he spends time with his brood and immediate relatives.

In a new interview with Esquire magazine, he says, "I have very few friends. I have a handful of close friends and I have my family and I haven't known life to be any happier. I'm making things. I just haven't known life to be any happier."

And the star admits he hates the void his kids leave when they are not with him - even when they are at their noisiest.

He adds, "I always thought that if I wanted to do a family, I wanted to do it big. I wanted there to be chaos in the house... there's constant chatter in our house, whether it's giggling or screaming or crying or banging. I love it. I love it. I love it. I hate it when they're gone. I hate it. Maybe it's nice to be in a hotel room for a day - 'Oh, nice, I can finally read a paper.' But then, by the next day, I miss that cacophony, all that life."

Brad Pitt's family is currently recovering from Jolie's double mastectomy, which the actress decided to undergo in February (13) after doctors estimated she had an 87 per cent chance of developing breast cancer.