Brad Pitt's Role In Ryan Reynolds' IF Movie Explained

Summary Brad Pitt's role as an imaginary friend in IF is invisible and never seen or heard, adding to the humor of the film's credits.

Pitt's cameo as Keith in IF connects to his previous invisible role in Deadpool 2, showcasing a fun trend with Ryan Reynolds.

Despite Pitt's credit in IF, there is no confirmation that he filmed any scenes for the movie, making the credit a playful joke from Krasinski and Reynolds.

Brad Pitt is listed in the credits for IF, but his role in the movie is different from the rest. John Krasinski's 2024 live-action/CGI hybrid movie about imaginary friends features plenty of A-list talent. Whether it is Ryan Reynolds leading the way or the likes of Steve Carell or Phoebe Waller-Bridge being part of IF's voice cast, the credits for the film are loaded with recognizable names. This is at least partially due to Krasinski and Reynolds pulling in favors from other people that they have worked with over the years.

Leading up to IF's ending, audiences are sure to match the voices of many imaginary friends with known stars. Krasinski and Gosling's real-life wives, Emily Blunt and Blake Lively, both have voice cameos as Unicorn and Octopuss. Krasinski also pulls in his former Leatherheads co-star George Clooney, former Promised Land co-star Matt Damon, and former Aloha co-star Bradley Cooper. Reynolds has former co-stars among the cast with Bill Hader after Adventureland. There is even a Deadpool 2 reunion created through Brad Pitt's role in the movie, even though his involvement is more complicated.

Related Ryan Reynolds' New Movie Marks A Surprising First 13 Years After 25% On Rotten Tomatoes Director John Krasinski's IF divided critics, but the fantasy dramedy marks Ryan Reynolds' first collaboration with one co-star in a very long time.

Brad Pitt Is Credited As Keith In IF

IF's Invisible Imaginary Friend

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Brad Pitt's IF role is not revealed until the film's credits reach the bottom of the cast list. This is where it says "Introducing Brad Pitt as Keith." Keith is the name of an invisible imaginary friend who is repeatedly used for a joke in the movie. While all the other imaginary friends are visible to audiences and Bea throughout, Keith was designed by his original child to be invisible. This causes people to trip over him at different points and then acknowledge Keith's presence.

Since Keith is never seen and does not speak during the movie, there was never an expectation that IF's credits would even include someone playing him. Brad Pitt's cameo is credited, though, and makes him part of cast lists on IMDb, Google, and more. However, the real nature of Brad Pitt's "cameo" as Keith in IF is more than likely just a joke that builds on his and Reynolds' prior working relationship on Deadpool 2.

Brad Pitt's IF Role Connects To His Deadpool 2 Cameo

He's Played An Invisible Character Before

Brad Pitt's credit as Keith in IF marks the second time he and Reynolds have worked together. Pitt previously had a cameo in Deadpool 2 as The Vanisher. The actor was originally in talks to play Cable in the Deadpool sequel, but he did not ultimately take the part, with Josh Brolin playing the Marvel hero instead. Even though the role of Cable did not happen, Pitt filmed a cameo for Deadpool 2 as Vanisher as part of the movie's death montage for the X-Force team members. The scene showed Vanisher catching on fire after landing on power lines.

Deadpool 2 including Pitt as The Vanisher came after the invisible mutant was previously said to be in the movie but not shown in his full physical form. Since The Vanisher was mostly invisible, Pitt was able to have the short cameo and do so as a surprise. IF now continues the trend of having Brad Pitt play invisible characters in movies starring Ryan Reynolds. The biggest difference between the actor's IF and Deadpool 2 cameos is that he is never shown as Keith in IF, whereas Vanisher gets a few seconds of screen time in Deadpool 2.

Vanisher's real name in Marvel Comics has never been revealed

Did Brad Pitt Film Any Scenes For IF?

Pitt Is Never Seen Or Heard

Brad Pitt's credited IF role as Keith might lead audiences to believe that the actor participated in the making of the movie. However, it is not confirmed that Pitt was ever on set to film any scenes. That would be quite unnecessary since Keith is completely invisible, and it would require the movie to digitally remove Pitt from any scenes he was in. Since Keith did not have any lines, recording dialogue in a booth was also not necessary.

The reality is that IF including Brad Pitt's name in the credits was simply a joke on behalf of Krasinski and Reynolds. Krasinski jokingly told ET Online that he wanted to give Brad Pitt his start with this role after the actor had worked hard for a breakout role. The fact that the credits even say "Introducing Brad Pitt as Keith" is a dead giveaway to the humorous nature of the "cameo," as IF is far from the first movie that Pitt has been in.

He's only one of the biggest modern movie stars, an Oscar-winning actor and producer, and been in several massive hits. But that helps make the IF Brad Pitt cameo all the funnier. Most viewers will already know who Pitt is and be wondering if he was in the film and to what capacity he actually played the invisible Keith.