Stephen Colbert’s been hyping Brad Pitt’s upcoming appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert recently, and with good reason. Pitt doesn’t do a lot of talk shows, and, even with a new movie coming out on May 26 (on Netflix, but still), seeing the press-shy Pitt on a late night couch is a rarity. (While all the recent lucrative attacks by Donald Trump have propelled Late Show ratings of late, never underestimate some good old star power.) So it’s fitting that Pitt never made it to the couch at all, instead appearing with Colbert on one of the host’s dreamy “Big Thoughts With Even Bigger Stars” segments, with the pair camped out on a plaid picnic blanket, and asking each other about the mysteries of the universe.
Sure, they got in three winking plugs for Pitt’s loosely fact-based military satire War Machine, but the bit saw Pitt counting on his willingness to be a goof to do the PR heavy lifting rather than a more traditional sales pitch. Pitt’s been through it in the last year, so perhaps he imagined even some faux-reflection would be restorative, especially with a camping buddy like Colbert. Engaging in some running, 30 Rock-style “nicknamification” (Pitt is especially tickled by “Bradimir Pittin”), Colbert and Pitt riffed out affectionate endearments for each other while engaging in some spacy silliness reminiscent of Jack Handy’s old Deep Thoughts. Sample: “Do you think clothes make the man?” “Yes, but my tailor swears it’s the other way around.” Really think about that.