Saturday Night Live viewers were in for a pleasant surprise on the most recent, remotely-produced episode. For the cold open of SNL at Home this week, Brad Pitt joined the program as Dr. Anthony Fauci to deliver a message about the coronavirus crisis. His appearance on the NBC variety series as Fauci comes only weeks after the medical professional said that he wanted Pitt to play him on SNL, meaning that he got to see his wish come true.
According to PEOPLE, Fauci appeared on CNN in early April for a segment with Alisyn Camerota where the discussion turned to SNL. Camerota asked the doctor if he had given any thought to who he’d want to portray him on the sketch program if they did choose to feature the White House’s coronavirus task force briefings. She even threw out a couple of names, noting that she’s heard others suggest Pitt or Ben Stiller. Fauci replied to say that he would love it if Fight Club actor were to portray him, answering her question with, “Oh, Brad Pitt, of course.” SNL presumably took note of his answer, as they had the actor take on Fauci duties during the show’s second-ever remotely-produced episode.
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At the beginning of the cold open, Pitt, as Fauci, addressed President Donald Trump’s claims that a vaccine for COVID-19 would be coming “relatively soon.” He clarified that it may soon “relative to the entire history of earth, sure… the vaccine’s gonna come real fast.” However, if you “were to tell a friend ‘I’ll be over relatively soon’ … and then showed up a year and a half later, well, your friend may be relatively pissed off.”
“There’s been a lot of misinformation out there about the virus and yes the President has taken some liberties with our guidelines. So tonight, I would like to explain what the President was trying to say,” Pitt continued explain in the sketch, donning a Fauci-approved look with a wig and glasses. After a clip played of Trump promising that “anybody that needs a test gets a test”and that the “tests are beautiful,” he explained some of his reservations with these statements. “I don’t know if I would describe the test as ‘beautiful,’ unless your idea of beauty is having a cotton swab tickle your brain,” Pitt said. “Also when he said everyone can get a test what he meant was almost no one.”
Towards the end of the sketch, Pitt removed his wig and glasses to issue a heartfelt thank you to Fauci and other medical professionals who are working throughout this health crisis. He said, “And to the real Dr. Fauci thank you for your calm and your clarity in this unnerving time and thank you to the medical workers, first responders and their families for being on the front line.”
