Brad Pitt ‘Doubly Excited’ With ‘Moneyball’ and ‘Tree of Life’ Oscar Nominations

Brad Pitt, who was up before his kids at his home in Los Angeles Tuesday morning, enjoyed a triple play when the Oscar nominations came through.

Not only was he nominated for best actor in Moneyball, the two films that he had a hand in producing this year — Moneyball and The Tree of Life — were both nominated for best picture. 

PHOTOS: 2012 Academy Awards: The Nominees

“There was no guarantee that we’d be here today,” he said of the baseball drama, which earned six nominations, including a supporting actor mention for Jonah Hill. The movie, as Pitt puts it, “was dead on the vine several times.”

“We had to go through major resuscitation, so I’m so excited for it to pan out this way, for all the people involved who helped this thing up the hill,” he said. “It’s a great honor and a real tribute to Billy Beane and the Oakland A’s as well. I can’t tell you how excited I am at Jonah Hill’s nomination. But also the fact that [the movie] is in there for editing and for script and for film. That it’s all being acknowledged is a real testament to [director] Bennett Miller, who had his hand on all of it.”

Pitt also expressed surprise with the nom for his other film, which many thought lost its Oscar steam in 2011.

STORY: Oscars 2012 Nominations – Complete List

“And Tree of Life! I’m doubly excited, because we felt we were all but forgotten,” he said. “It was another one that was difficult to get made. Terry [Malick] getting acknowledged this way [as best director] — the kids are getting whatever they want for breakfast! They have to get up to get ready for school so I may go into that. Pancakes for everyone!”

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