Matt Damon pities Brad Pitt

Los Angeles, July 9 (IANS) Actor friend Matt Damon is sympathetic towards his friend, Hollywood star Brad Pitt, who is always followed by paparazzi and, thus, cannot enjoy his personal life.

Damon and Pitt became friends after co-starring in the "Ocean's Eleven" franchise.

The "Bourne Identity" actor has managed to raise his children away from the spotlight unlike Pitt and his fiancee Angelina Jolie. Damon is happy he doesn't lead a similar life.

"If you can control the celebrity side of celebrity, then it (being super famous) is worth it. I look at Brad - and I have for years - and when I'm with him I see the intensity of that other side of it," Esquire magazine quoted the 42-year-old as saying, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"And the paparazzi and the insane level of aggression they have and their willingness to break the law and invade his space - well, I wonder about that trade," he added.

Damon feels bad for his celebrity friend as he is not able to even walk his children to school.

"I remember telling him that I walk my kids to school, and his face just fell. He was very kind, but he was like, 'You b**tard'. Because he should be able to do that, too. And he can't"," said Damon.

Damon said that he is able to maintain a low-key life outside work as he is married to a non-celebrity, a former bartender Luciana Barroso.

"I got lucky, I fell in love with a civilian. Not an actress and not a famous actress at that. Because then the attention doesn't double - it grows exponentially. Because then suddenly everybody wants to be in your bedroom," he said.

"But I don't really give them anything (to report on). If I'm not jumping up and down on a bar, or lighting something on fire, or cheating on my wife, there's not really any story to tell," Damon said.

"They can try to stake me out, but they're always going to get the same story - middle-aged married guy with four kids. So as long as that narrative doesn't change too much, there's no appetite for it," he added.