Brad Pitt says NOLA most interesting U.S. city

Club in the Bywater neighborhood behind the French Quarter

Beginning in 2006, Brad Pitt's foundation commissioned architecture firms to design affordable, eco-friendly houses in New Orleans' devastated Ninth Ward, according to the Times-Picayune.

Those homes were built on the same location as houses swept away when the levees were breached at the Industrial Canal on Aug. 29, 2005.

Pitt has since built 30 houses and purchased a French Quarter home for his family. From the Times-Pic today:

Q: Tell me about your love affair with New Orleans.

A: I came to New Orleans back in 1994 doing "Interview with the Vampire" movie, based on the Anne Rice novel, and fell in love with the city. It got under my skin. Everything was sexy and sultry. I'd ride my bike all over the place, amazed by the architecture. I'd return to New Orleans every chance I could.

What can I say? It's got the best people, the best everything. It's the most interesting city in America.

Q: Can you still get around New Orleans on your bike? Do you put a sweatshirt hood over your head? Or does your facial hair serve as a disguise?

A: In New Orleans, the people are great. They leave Angie and me alone. Unfortunately, we drag paparazzi with us from other places in the world...But otherwise, man, we can just live and breath and ride bikes. We can take our kids on bike rides, and local people just give us a shout-out - and let us move on.

It's very free for us. It's like Venice or Rome: an essential world city. So we feel honored to be involved with the community. Everybody treats us like neighbors.