Things get awkward with Brad Pitt on 'Between Two Ferns'

Brad Pitt – or Bradley Pitts – appeared on 'Between Two Ferns' to promote his latest film 'Fury.' True to form, host Zach Galifianakis did not hold back, asking the star plenty of awkward and hilarious questions. 

After a rapid-fire series of uncomfortable questions, Brad Pitt leaned over and spat his gum into Zach Galifianakis’s eye.

This week, “Hangover” actor Mr. Galifianakis added Mr. Pitt – or Bradley Pitts, as the comedian put it – to his roster of celebrity guests on “Between Two Ferns,” a web video series hosted on Funny Or Die.

Pitt appeared on the show to promote his latest film, “Fury” a WWII picture directed by David Ayer. The film grossed $23.5 million in its opening weekend and has earned largely positive reviews from critics. 

“When does that come out?” Galifianakis asked. Before Pitt could answer, he followed up. “On DVD?” 

“Between Two Ferns” is a parody talk show on Funny Or Die, a video website from Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, comedians who co-wrote and stared in “Step Brothers.”

Galifianakis, the show's host, has also interviewed Justin Bieber, Richard Branson, Bruce Willis, and Sean Penn on the web series. Galifianakis’s awkward or intrusive questions that often leave celebrity guests speechless have won the show millions of views. And this episode did not disappoint.

One particularly uncomfortable moment followed Galifianakis’s comparison of Pitt and his wife, actress Angelina Jolie, to Ross and Rachel from the classic NBC sitcom “Friends.” Pitt’s ex-wife Jennifer Aniston played the character of Rachel. Galifianakis added salt to the wound with a clip from the sitcom’s theme song.

The episode offered another surprise about halfway through with a guest appearance by comedian Louis C.K. So far, this installment has received more than eight million views.

The most notable episode of “Between Two Ferns” featured President Barack Obama, who appeared on the show in March 2014, to promote the Affordable Care Act. Galifianakis opened the show by asking President Obama about Thanksgiving turkey pardons and Dennis Rodman’s role in US diplomatic efforts with North Korea. 

Web traffic to Healthcare.gov reportedly soared after the episode ran, and the six-minute clip received about 25 million views on Funny or Die’s site. The segment also won an Emmy for outstanding short-format live-action entertainment program.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Things get awkward with Brad Pitt on 'Between Two Ferns'
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/2014/1024/Things-get-awkward-with-Brad-Pitt-on-Between-Two-Ferns
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe