Brad Pitt Reveals He's Been Getting Speech Writing Help From David Fincher
One of the joys of this year's award show season has been Brad Pitt, what with his perfect suits, perfect smile, and perfect speeches. Most victory speeches are too long, or too boring, or just try too hard—but someway, somehow, Pitt's speeches always seem to strike the right balance between funny and poignant, and he always makes his love of film evident while also getting in some really good jokes.
For example, his Oscars speech included a wisecrack about riding Leonardo DiCaprio's coattails on the set of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but he also made sure to give a well-deserved shoutout to the stuntmen and women that are often overlooked.
In his speech at the Golden Globes, he pointed out that he would have "shared the raft" with DiCaprio, and at the SAG Awards, he referenced his Tinder profile (it probably isn't real, but just pretend for a second).
And even though Pitt wasn't able to attend the BAFTAS, he had Margot Robbie read his speech on his behalf, and he somehow managed to get in cracks about Brexit, Megxit, and his divorce.
His speeches are so good that some have questioned if he has a joke writer on staff, and a writer at Vulture reached out to some speechwriting agencies to get the 411. While one agency reportedly confirmed that Pitt’s representatives contacted them for a consult about their speechwriting services, a separate representative for Fenway Strategies, a speechwriting and communications firm, revealed speechwriters for award shows are Hollywood's "worst kept secret."
"Writing for actors is a speechwriter’s dream come true," author and speechwriter Sam Koppelman said. "Because unlike politicians, who are not professionals at memorizing lines or delivering them in compelling and charismatic ways, actors actually know how to deliver the lines."
Most recently, Pitt addressed the source of his amazing speeches while on the Oscars red carpet. As Variety reports, the actor said that he had some "very, very funny friends" help him with his speeches, and said friends include comedians Jim Jefferies and Bob Oschack, and Fight Club director David Fincher. "My man Fincher, we trade barbs every week," Pitt said.
Pitt also revealed that while he was tentative about public speaking, he "figured if we were going to do this, I’d put some real work into it and try to get comfortable, and this is a result of that. I’m definitely writing."
Personally, we never believed that Pitt was just blindly reading lines off of speechwriter's cue card for his speeches—I mean, look at his natural humor in this interview.
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