Brad Pitt wanted 12 children with Angelina Jolie

Brad Pitt has opened up about his "chaotic" life with Angelina Jolie and their six children, revealing in a new interview that he and his wife were "aiming for a dozen" kids.

The Hollywood power couple, who met on the set of the 2004 film Mr & Mrs Smith, are parents to Maddox, 14, Pax, 11, Zahara, 10, Shiloh, nine, and twins Knox and Vivienne, seven.

Brad told British newspaper The Daily Telegraph in an interview published on Saturday (28Nov15) that while their big brood is chaos, he wouldn't change it one bit.

"Everyone talks about the joy of having kids - blah, blah, blah. But I never knew how much I could love something until I looked in the faces of my children," says the doting father. "Listen, Angie and I were aiming for a dozen, but we crapped out after six."

He described the Jolie-Pitt household as "a lot of love, a lot of fighting, a lot of refereeing; a lot of teeth-brushing and spilling... Chaos, total chaos. But so much fun."

The actor took inspiration for a big family from a college friend with whom he would sometimes stay. He had five brothers and two sisters, and even at that young age, Brad knew that's the way he wanted his family life to be.

"It was absolute mayhem on the weekends, and so much fun," he says. "His mom would be making breakfast for everyone, throwing eggs and pancakes around, and I thought, 'that's the way I want to do it'."

Despite their kids accompanying them across the world and growing up on film sets in the glare of the public eye, Brad insists that he and Angelina try to make their lives as normal as possible.

"Well, our life is their normal. Because we're migratory workers in a sense, they have this wonderful thing where they get to be students of the world. They have memories of being in Vietnam, or that time in Paris, or over in Calgary," he says.

"The downside is friends, sleepovers, team sports - these have been the challenges that we've had to work out. We do those things, but we really have to go out of our way. And Mom is a matador about it all - she's fantastic. We get their friends to us a lot. And then when we set up in one place for any length of time I get on the team sports, because I really want them to have that understanding of being on the team."

The By The Sea star reveals his upbringing was "never that raucous", and even admits that his father's tough stance on religion made Brad turn atheist later in life.

Describing his father, he says, "He could be a softie. But one thing my folks always stressed was being capable, doing things for yourself. He was really big on integrity - and that informed a lot of what (we) try to do now."

Brad claims he's the disciplinarian with the boys in his brood, but admits that his three daughters - Zahara, Shiloh and Vivienne - are daddy's girls: "Girls do no wrong... I feel like my job is to show 'em around, help them find what they want to do with their life, put as many things in front of them, and pull them back when they get out of line, so they know who they are."

The star credits his huge family with giving him purpose in life, and says it even made him become a better actor. He adds, "I was a pretty good actor before, but definitely hit and miss. I think I became a really good actor. I'm sure a lot of that has to do with age and wisdom too. But I see an absolute shift from the day I started my family.

"They need you. So I think that made me less tense about things, less stressed. You know, nowadays I really can't wait to get home. More than at any time in my life, I've got purpose - real purpose. It feels like I've found my place."