During my interview with Brad Pitt for The Movie Dweeb, I couldn’t resist bringing up one of the greatest pop culture switcheroos of recent years: when Shania Twain looked Ryan Reynolds dead in the eye mid-performance and cheekily changed the lyric in That Don’t Impress Me Much from “So you’re Brad Pitt” to “So you’re Ryan Reynolds.”

I asked Brad if he’d seen it, and, naturally, he had. “I think we can share the wealth there. Ryan’s a good egg too. He deserves some love.” Ever the diplomat (and charmer), Brad even offered up some suggestions for future shout-outs: “Next time, she ought to sing it to Austin Butler. Maybe Leo in between, then Austin Butler.”

So there you have it. No thunder was stolen. It was simply passed along the Hollywood line like an honorary baton of handsomeness.

When Shania Twain Made Ryan Reynolds the Star of That Don’t Impress Me Much

Let’s rewind to the 2022 People’s Choice Awards. Shania Twain was performing a medley of her biggest hits, including the chart-topping classic That Don’t Impress Me Much. But as she reached that line, “So you’re Brad Pitt,” she glanced over at Ryan Reynolds in the audience and decided to have some fun.

With a sly smile, she sang, “So you’re Ryan Reynolds,” instead, and the crowd lost it. So did Ryan, whose priceless reaction was caught on camera; part flattered, part floored. After all, how often does one get name-dropped mid-performance by Shania Twain?

Brad Pitt on Hollywood, Hedonism, and Babylon

Of course, my chat with Brad wasn’t just about Shania Twain (although, to be fair, it probably could’ve been). We also talked about his extravagant, jazz-fuelled epic Babylon, directed by Damien Chazelle. The film saw Pitt play Jack Conrad, a silent-era movie star watching his world unravel as Hollywood evolves, and as parties get more debaucherous by the second.

In Babylon, Brad leans fully into the chaos, portraying a man fuelled by ego, booze, and the dread of irrelevance.

The film divided audiences, but there’s no denying it gave Brad one of his juiciest, most layered roles in years, a real feast for anyone who’s missed his leading-man swagger with a dash of existential crisis.

Brad Pitt Takes the Wheel in F1

Next up? Pitt’s heading to the track (literally) for F1, an adrenaline-pumping racing drama produced in collaboration with Lewis Hamilton and directed by Top Gun: Maverick’s Joseph Kosinski.

In F1, Brad stars as a retired Formula 1 driver making an unexpected return to the sport, taking a young rookie under his wing. The film has already generated serious buzz, not just for its high-octane plot, but for the way it’s being shot; using real F1 cars and filmed during actual Grand Prix weekends.

It’s clear that, whether he’s fronting awards show punchlines or burning rubber at Silverstone, Brad Pitt is still very much that guy.