The celebration of Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary isn’t merely limited to the world of TV, as the 2024 movie schedule is also honoring the occasion with the movie Saturday Night. Co-written and directed by Jason Reitman, the real-time drama depicts the chaos before the first broadcast of NBC’s landmark sketch show.
In an act of cosmic coincidence, a poignant scene involving actor Matt Wood’s John Belushi saw him rushed to the hospitalma as it was being filmed in the iconic Rockefeller Center Ice Rink. The event would force Reitman to become a last minute stand-in on camera, and in turn would give Saturday Night co-star Ella Hunt a moment with one of her favorite directors that only enhanced her performance.
Why Saturday Night’s Ice Skating Scene Force Jason Reitman To Stand In For Matt Wood
As part of our Saturday Night interviews, Sean O’Connell got to speak with various cast members, including Ella Hunt, one of Wood’s scene partners in the scene in question. Playing the on-screen representation of original cast member Gilda Radner, Hunt was present to discuss an intriguing wrinkle in filming what’s a subtly heartfelt moment.
When it comes to Jason Reitman having to step in as a physical double, the story is pretty simple. In fact, here’s how Ella Hunt recounted that tale for CinemaBlend:
That scene, we shot on our first night of shooting. We were actually at Rockefeller Ice Rink. … We shot Matt on the ice first. And thank God we got a lot of the scene from his perspective before he fell. He fell and he hit his head. And we were like, ‘We have to keep shooting!’ He went to the hospital, Jason put on skates and did the scene with me. Yeah. First night of shooting was wild.
Ella Hunt, CinemaBlend
If that moment had occurred at any point of a normal film shoot, it’d be an interesting story. Then again, Saturday Night isn't a normal film, as its tight knit action required precision so fine, rehearsals were actually run for each scene before shooting even began.
Not to mention, for this specific picture to run into this sort of challenge on the first night is practically an omen that this cast and crew were making the right movie. I mean, this is the story of how SNL pulled it together out of nowhere on night one, and made every pitfall and pratfall work to its advantage.
I can only talk about Matt Wood's accident in such a context for two very important reasons, one of which is knowing full well that the actor was promptly sent for medical attention, and to my knowledge did not suffer any major injuries from the incident. The other is that another silver lining of this unfortunate wipe out was technically called for, as John Belushi's attempt to do a triple axel in this scene goes wrong in a similar fashion.
What makes this seem even more fitting is the fact that the cavalier and improvisational nature of this dramatized first night was reflected rather ingeniously by Jason Reitman, who was briefly an SNL writer himself. So if anyone could understand the run and gun nature that comes with making both that show, and a movie reflecting its genesis, it's him.
Also, if we're being honest here, landing Rockefeller Center's Ice Rink for a night shoot was probably something so strictly permitted that this night in particular was the only time they'd get that shot. Which is an interesting metaphorical gun to be under, especially as the show had to go on due to production freshly starting.
With Jason Reitman literally lacing up his skates, he gave Ella Hunt the scene partner she needed and played the moment like a champ. The Ghostbusters: Afterlife director’s quick thinking landed one of my favorite moments from the film in the can, and it also managed to give Hunt an experience that only enhanced her performance further.
Why Ella Hunt Feels Her Saturday Night Switch Up Was ‘Uncanny’
What makes this Saturday Night scene so special to me is the dialogue that it contains and the SNL cast members it’s shared by. While Matt Wood’s John Belushi is skating around in an act of trademark oppositional defiance, Ella Hunt’s Gilda Radner asks him about being nostalgic for a moment you’re currently living.
As two legends from the shows cast who’d be taken away before their time, it’s a scene that lands a subtle gut punch for fans of either Radner, Belushi or Saturday Night Live as a whole. But on the more lighthearted side of things, Ella Hunt told CinemaBlend that those “uncanny” words resonated with her in this pleasant manner:
I'm a New Yorker. So to shoot a scene playing Gilda Radner, directed by one of my favorite directors ever, saying these words about having nostalgia for a moment while you're still in it. Talk about an uncanny, meta experience. Like, dream within a dream. I felt all those things that Gilda was saying, and God, what a privilege to get to say them. And weirdly, I ended up saying them to Jason.
Ella Hunt, CinemaBlend
2024 has certainly been a wild year for both Matt Wood and Ella Hunt, even if you’re only taking into account their Saturday Night experience. As this marks Wood’s first major motion picture role, and Hunt has this credit sitting right in-between installments of her time in the Horizon: An American Saga cast, reenacting a watershed moment in American TV history is definitely something to be proud of.
Saturday Night Live fans, you have some celebrating to get back to, which can be helped along with the extensive catalog of reruns that are available to stream through a Peacock subscription. That naturally includes the very episode that this motion picture takes its inspiration from, and also includes some fun easter eggs to other SNL hallmarks.
Don’t forget that Saturday Night is currently in theaters in a ready for prime time depiction of those Not Ready for Prime Time Players. Also, don’t forget to check out Jason Reitman’s ReelBlend interview, in which he discussed the process of making Saturday Night, as well as other notable stories from his filmography.
