Ryan Gosling had a great Saturday at 30 Rockefeller Plaza hosting Saturday Night Live. His ep produced a number of viral sketches, including his Eva Mendes approved sketch with Marcello Hernandez, and he made everyone laugh while dressed as Beavis for one of the funniest sketches I've seen in a while. He's already an incredibly memorabl highlight amongst the Season 49 SNL hosts to date, and fans can credit Gosling’s natural charisma and sense of humor for it. Though according to Colin Jost, he’s not the only naturally great comedic talent on that Studio 8H stage.
Colin Jost has been a mainstay at SNL for years, starting as a writer back in 2005 and taking over at the Weekend Update desk in 2014. He has seen many hosts come and go, with some being hits or misses within the famously intense SNL environment, and appeared on the Table of Two podcast to talk about what makes the show's table reads so tricky, and how it is so rare for others to truly stand out at that stage of the creative process. He said:
You’re reading 40 sketches right, at the table read, so to be able to make a choice to [differentiate] all of those [is difficult].
However, some actors actually do rise above and shine amidst the deluge of material being tossed around at table reads, and they're often ones who make very good hosts in the long run. Jost said that Adam Driver is a standout during those initial read-throughs, and even compared him to comedians by way of being inventive with his characters while reading through sketches. Jost explained:
That’s something Adam Driver's especially good at at the table read. Like, he’ll make a choice for all those pieces, and an interesting choice. The same way Will Ferrell does, but obviously he’s [a comedian]. He knows it in a whole other way.
Fans of the Marriage Story actor are likely not surprised to hear Driver is so great when it comes to on-the-spot character choices. He's a tremendous actor known for his wide range, having taken on comedic roles in Girls and movies like This Is Where I Leave You and What If…, as well as vastly different dramatic performances in The Last Duel and Silence.
Given that he's mostly associated with the seriousness of Star Wars' Kylo Ren, having his SNL skills compared to comedians like Will Ferrell makes for quite the compliment. Having the strength of lots of experience as a stage actor likely plays a part in this success.
Crushing table reads definitely seems to translate into a well-received hosting effort. The Kylo Ren Undercover Boss sketch from 2016 is one of the most viewed SNL sketches on YouTube, and hilarious sketches like the bizarre 2018 Career Day sketch and the most recent Airplane Baby sketch from his 2024 hosting stint have done numbers online. Ryan Gosling may be getting deserved attention for his successful most recent appearance on the show, but we can’t sleep on Driver’s equally hilarious hosting talents. To see these two together as some sort of comedic duo would be such a treat, and someone should pitch this idea ASAP.
Both actors have hosted this SNL season, but hopefully we can see these two return to the NBC mainstay in the near future. In the meantime, you can see Adam Driver in the upcoming film Megalopolis, which is expected to be added to the 2024 movie release schedule very soon. You can also see Ryan Gosling in his new movie The Fall Guy, which hits theaters on May 3rd 2024. Also, if you missed either of the SNL episodes hosted by these movie stars, episodes are now streaming with a Peacock subscription.
