Saturday Night Live opened its second remote episode with an appearance by none other than Brad Pitt. The Oscar winner kicked off the cold open as Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Pitt turned in a spot-on performance as Fauci, who tried to clarify some of President Donald Trump’s comments during his daily White House coronavirus briefings.
“Yes, the president has taken some liberties with our guidelines,” Pitt said. “So tonight, I would like to explain what the president was trying to say.”
He then tossed to video of Trump ad-libbing at the briefings, and saying there would be a vaccine “relatively soon.”
“Relatively soon is an interesting phrase,” Pitt said. “Relative to the entire history of entire history of Earth? Sure the vaccine is going to come real fast.”
The Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star then tossed to a clip of Trump saying his administration had done an “incredible job” and COVID-19 is going to “disappear one day, like a miracle.”
“A miracle is great. Who doesn’t like miracles,” Pitt quipped.
The casting was a major coup, after Fauci joked in a recent television interview that if SNL tapped anyone to play him, he’d like to see Pitt in the role.
The NBC series features remotely taped sketches because of social distancing guidelines amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The show aired its first remote episode aired on April 11. The episode featured the cast “at home” and included appearances by Alec Baldwin, Larry David, and Chris Martin, along with guest host Tom Hanks.
Speaking from his kitchen, Hanks talked about his recovery from coronavirus. It was his first television appearance since he and wife Rita Wilson were diagnosed with COVID-19.