The classic movie Brad Pitt took on as a “last-minute decision”
A low-budget British crime caper from a still-unproven filmmaker directing only their second feature hardly sounds as though it would have the capabilities to draw in one of the biggest stars in Hollywood into its orbit, but Brad Pitt found himself immediately won over by Snatch.
Guy Ritchie’s sophomore movie hit many of the same beats as his debut, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, but showcased an evolution in both his styles and sensibilities as a filmmaker. Raising the stakes, upping the ante, and expanding the ensemble was every bit as assured and confident as his opening salvo, hinting at bigger things to come.
As for Pitt, his accent was somewhere between questionable and impenetrable as bare-knuckle brawler Mickey O’Neil, but that was kind of the point. In fact, it was one of his co-stars in Snatch that inspired the actor to adopt a brogue that’s hardly the most convincing and accurate but makes perfect sense within the context of the character.
“I borrowed a move from Benicio del Toro in The Usual Suspects; he kind of made it okay to be incomprehensible, so that’s what worked,” Pitt admitted. “That was literally like two days before we started shooting and I was sweating bullets, because I went after the role”.
Describing Snatch as “such a last-minute decision”, it makes sense that Pitt ended up with very little time before the start of principal photography to settle on how he wanted Mickey to behave and sound. He met with certain people for an insight into the tight-knit community the mischievous boxer was part of, but they weren’t exactly willing to offer too much information.
“What they kept telling me about these guys, they’re very secretive. In fact, we met one clan, they all introduced themselves as Billy Joel, they just don’t want to give up their information,” he continued. “So a lot of times they’ll speak in this kind of banter to not be heard. They just want you to hear what they wish. It’s like they have their own pidgin language. That was the idea behind it”.
Fortunately, Pitt also had a classic sitcom to lean on, telling JOE that “I was going off a performance of a guest star on a Father Ted episode” when trying to zero in on the accent. Not what anyone would have expected from a Tinseltown stalwart, but it certainly did the trick in its own unique way.
A hasty decision to sign on the dotted line, secretive people who weren’t ready to divulge their inner workings, and a splash of Father Ted all helped create the unique concoction that was the star’s performance in Snatch, a recipe that’s every bit as unusual as the vocal gymnastics on display on-screen.
