Saturday Night Live has welcomed hundreds of guest hosts and musical guests since the iconic sketchy comedy series kicked off in 1975. However, acting as the week's emcee is not for the faint of heart, one that combines the time-crunch pressure of having to put together a top-notch TV program in only a handful of days and, you know, actually being funny while you do it. Here's what 32 former SNL guest hosts had to say about taking the stage at Studio 8H.
Rob Lowe
Rob Lowe has memorably hosted SNL several times over his decades-spanning career, but he says that his guest-host debut in 1990 helped him get cast in more comedic roles. He told The A.V. Club: "I’ll always be grateful for Lorne [Michaels], who saw me as funny...For whatever reason, nobody had really given me the room or the ability to be out and out funny. And Lorne and Mike [Meyers] and Chris [Farley] and Dana [Carvey], that crop really helped me do that. And that paved the way for Parks and Rec and The Grinder, the Comedy Central Roast, and that whole side of my career."
Emma Stone
A member of SNL's Five-Timers Club—an illustrious group of celebrity guest hosts that have hosted Saturday Night Live at least 5 times—self-proclaimed "diehard superfan" Emma Stone said hosting the show was "truly the greatest experience of my life" while appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in June 2024. However, she also revealed that, sadly, the SNL powers that be don't let you keep one of the club's signature blue velvet jackets.
Christina Aguilera
Pip icon Christina Aguilera has served as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live several times but she's only guest-hosted once, in February 2004. The vocalist told Collider back in 2010: "It’s always nerve-wracking when you’re hosting 'Saturday Night Live.' You either sink or swim." However, she also revealed that "part of the reason why I got to do [Burlesque] was because of my Samantha impersonation from Sex and the City. They said, 'You have comedy chops.'"
Regé-Jean Page
Former Bridgerton hunk Regé-Jean Page made his SNL debut as host in 2021, an opportunity he clearly relished, as he detailed in an interview with Variety. The Brit said that being able to bounce ideas off cast members like Kenan Thompson was his favorite part of appearing on the sketch-comedy series: “That was the most fun thing about that night: having a two-way conversation, in the room, with a bunch of people who don’t know what you’re going to do, who are waiting to be delighted by whatever unexpected thing you throw out. That’s electrifying.”
Mary-Kate Olsen
Alongside her twin sister Ashley, Mary-Kate Olsen was a major child star in the '80s, '90s and early 2000s. Before leaving Hollywood behind for a very successful career together in fashion, the Olsen siblings appeared as SNL hosts in 2004, an episode that actually overlapped with their high school proms. "We had to decide: Do we want to do Saturday Night or go to our Senior Prom? We opted for Saturday Night Live," she told TODAY.
Octavia Spencer
Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer made her hosting debut on Saturday Night Live in March 2017. Extra caught up with the star on the red carpet of the Academy Awards ahead of her SNL appearance, during which Spencer revealed: "I leave first thing in the morning to go to New York to do SNL. I'm terrified, and I'm excited. But I'm terrified. I have severe stage fright, so I got to get out on that stage as much as possible this week."
Steve Martin
Given that he's one of the best SNL hosts of all time, you'd think appearing on Saturday Night Live would be old hat for a 16-time host like Steve Martin. However, he revealed on the Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend podcast that he still toils over those opening monologues, including the one for his 2022 Christmastime episode opposite Only Murders in the Building co-star Martin Short. "I said to Marty, ‘The monologue was great, the ratings were high, so there’s a chance that we’ll be asked back to host at some other time’. Before you say yes, just remember we worked on that monologue for three years.”
Sydney Sweeney
"I was so scared, but I had so much fun," Euphoria actress Sydney Sweeney told People about her SNL hosting gig, which took place during Season 49 in March 2024. "I was so happy I did it, and I would love to do it again maybe one day because I feel like now I'm prepared and I can do it, and I know and I can expect what the process is like, and everyone's so fun. It is just such a great group of people."
Justin Timberlake
Over the years, Justin Timberlake has been part of some of the most memorable (and risqué) musical moments on Saturday Night Live, but he's also shown off his humorous side as host, serving as emcee five times across nine years. "Hosting 'SNL' was something I'd always wanted to do," the triple threat told W Magazine in 2011. "The show allowed me to play to my strengths —mixing music with comedy seemed like a way into [the acting] world."
Kristen Wiig
Kristen Wiig has an interesting perspective as a Five-Time Club member, as the actress-comedienne was famously a cast member on the NBC show from 2005 to 2012. “As a former cast member, it is very special,” Wiig said in her opening monologue during her fifth stint as an SNL host in 2024. “I’m really excited about getting my jacket tonight… they don’t just hand the jackets off to anyone.” (Cue Ryan Gosling, Matt Damon and a whole host of non-Five Timers hilariously sauntering out in those coveted coats.)
Pedro Pascal
Pedro Pascal is a total hoot as an SNL host, which makes it surprising to hear that he felt terrified about hosting the show for the first time in February 2023. “I’m usually not all that interested in challenging myself,” The Last of Us star told Esquire. “SNL was all of those challenges stuffed into one week of my life." However, he added with a smile that it was all worth it: “I could not have had a better time.”
Issa Rae
"I cannot believe it. I'm hosting Saturday Night Live, y'all. I can't believe I just walked down the stairs, the same stairs as comedy legends like Tina Fey, and Amy Poehler, and Molly Shannon," said Insecure star-slash-creator Issa Rae during her opening monologue in Season 46. "My family, all of our inside jokes are from SNL. This is incredible, and actually I'm so scared right now. I'm scared as hell; I'm not going to lie. I might throw up."
Betty White
Even an American treasure and Hollywood legend like Betty White gets stage fright, as the Golden Girl star reportedly did ahead of her SNL debut at the ripe age of 88 years old. In the PBS documentary Betty White: First Lady of Television, White recounted: "Stage fright, it's uncomfortable and all of that. But it's a lifesaver because the panic that sets in, you've got to counter. You've got to get a handle on that in order to do what you're doing, so the stage fright is what puts the edge, I think, on a performance."
Andrew Garfield
Andrew Garfield hasn't hosted SNL quite as many times as his famous ex Emma Stone, but the Brit did put in a very respectable two appearances as guest host, in 2011 and 2014. Ahead of his 2014 episode, Garfield told PopSugar: "I'm genuinely wanting to jump out that window right now. I'm so excited and also panicked — deeply, deeply panicked. I'm starting to sweat!"
Megan Fox
"When you're doing a film, you're on a set and you have retakes and you have time to get it right. And on 'SNL' it's just go, go, go," Jennifer's Body star Megan Fox—who hosted the late-night show back in September 2009—told Parade. "If you can't read the cue cards or miss your mark, you're just left to sort of screw up. So there's a lot more pressure doing a live TV show." That makes her praise of partner Machine Gun Kelly's 2021 SNL performance all the sweeter.
Billie Eilish
Despite her young age, Gen Z crooner Billie Eilish seems an old pro at this Hollywood thing, from headlining stadium tours to taking home Oscars. But she had a nasty case of nerves ahead of her SNL hosting gig in December 2021. "I actually did throw up because of it...I had a full body reaction to being anxious about the whole week," she revealed on The Howard Stern Show. However, that anxiety thankfully lifted eventually, with the star adding: "As soon as I saw the crowd and felt their joy, it was like I wasn't nervous. It was relieving somehow, and I think that that is just my love for performing."
James McAvoy
From creepy clowns in IT to powerful villains in the X-Men movies, James McAvoy has encountered plenty of scary things onscreen. However, the Scottish actor was particularly "terrified" in the week leading up to his SNL hosting debut in Season 44. He told Access Hollywood in 2019 that the mere thought of hosting the show made him "need to go to the bathroom right now."
John Mulaney
John Mulaney has a long history of being behind-the-scenes at Studio 8H as a writer on SNL from 2008 to 2013. However, actually hosting the show for the first time in 2018 made him "absolutely terrified," he told NPR. "These people know me. And you know, it's not that people who know you don't love you. But they know you. And so, like — you know, they can't possibly think that I should be here. They have known me since I was, you know, 25 and just standing in the hallway like an idiot, drinking Dr. Pepper. And I'm a fraud—which is a common feeling among all people, I think."
Kristen Stewart
Ahead of her first hosting appearance on Saturday Night Live in 2017, Kristen Stewart disclosed to SNL alum Jimmy Fallon while on The Tonight Show that she had been avoiding doing the show for years: "For six years, I've just been being a total wuss about it and then I finally was like, at some point, you just have to bite the bullet, you know? And just fail. It will make you stronger, man." And a strong showing it was—during her debut, Stewart memorably dropped an F-bomb and publicly came out as gay.
Lindsay Lohan
Newbie nerves seem to be a common experience for most first-time SNL hosts, but Lindsay Lohan—who has hosted Saturday Night Live four times—assures that things do, in fact, get better the more time you've taken the stage at Studio 8H. "It's always so nerve-wracking before you go to do SNL and walk out the first time," the Freaky Friday actress told Vogue in 2022. "And then it becomes more comfortable after."
Austin Butler
When it came time for Austin Butler to get advice ahead of his Saturday Night Live hosting debut in 2022, he sought out the counsel of two of his Dune: Part Two co-stars: Timothée Chalamet and Christopher Walken, both of whom had previously taken the stage at Studio 8H. "I remember asking you and Christopher Walken because I was so scared," Butler told Chalamet in an Elle interview. "And Christopher Walked just said, 'Just read the cue cards!"
Courteney Cox
During her first year as one of our favorite Friends, Courteney Cox hosted SNL solo in 1995, an experience that she felt "too young" and "green" for. During an interview on The Howard Stern Show on SiriusXM, Cox said: "I was not near confident enough to do that show. I mean, now I'd love to do it. And you know, no one's asking me to do it, but man, I was too young." Watching the episode decades later, Cox added: "It was great cast members, and it was fun, but I definitely can see the nerves and the panic."
Regina King
During her opening monologue as a first-time Saturday Night Live host, Regina King revealed the influence that a certain SNL icon had on her. "I can't believe I am actually here hosting Saturday Night Live," she began. "I remember watching Eddie Murphy on this show when I was a little kid thinking, 'Wow, someday I'm gonna be on that stage.' Then he left and I was like, 'Hm, I'm good.' I'm kidding, it really is such an honor."
Timothée Chalamet
Ahead of his second time hosting in 2023, Timothée Chalamet got some much-welcome assurance from a surprising source: a quote Five-Timers Club member Woody Harrelson had left backstage. "Woody Harrelson wrote, 'I'm terrified right now.' And he put, 'Woody Harrelson,'" Chalamet told Elle. "I read that right before, and I was like, 'Aww man, that makes me feel good. Alright, I'm not the only one that's scared right now.'"
Michael Keaton
For his pre-show pep talk, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star Michael Keaton reportedly turned to an SNL legend for guidance: Dana Carvey. On his podcast Fly on the Wall, Carvey revealed: "After the dress show, [Michael's] like, 'I don't know. I don't do this this often. I don't know what I'm doing out there,' you know? I said, 'Nobody does. This is really hard. So all you got to do is say, 'What the [heck] and have fun.' Then he nails it on air, hysterical. There you go, he's a pro."
Dave Chappelle
Comic Dave Chappelle had the unique experience of hosting SNL after both the 2016 and 2020 elections. In a "Stories from the Show" segment posted on the show's official X account, Chappelle talks about prepping for the 2016 show: "I do remember the gravity of the week. Like, Tuesday night, when we write, that was election night, and they were projecting the results on the ice in Rockefeller [Center]...The writers' room started slowing down as people started realizing things weren't going the way everyone expected."
Dan Levy
With a dad like SCTV great Eugene Levy, Dan Levy has sketch-comedy skills in his DNA. But the Schitt's Creek star still needed a little confidence boost before making his SNL debut. He got it in the form of a chance run-in with Drew Barrymore, which he revealed on the star's titular talk show: “I was just about to do Saturday Night Live [and] I had never been so nervous in my entire life. And I saw your face and it was like an instant balm.” Leavy decided to spread the good vibes, leaving a sweet note backstage for the next host, Regina King.
Kim Kardashian
For her SNL hosting debut in 2021, Kim Kardashian revealed that she nearly shared the spotlight with her famous ex-husband, rap icon Kanye West, as a musical guest, as she detailed on the premiere of Hulu's The Kardashians. She ultimately decided against it: “This is my first time, and I kind of want this to be about me and not about, ‘How are they gonna act to each other?'” However, she did concede that “it would be so cool for the kids to see mom and dad together on ‘SNL.'”
Adele
Twelve years after first appearing on SNL as a musical guest, Adele got the chance to host the whole shindig in 2020, an opportunity the vocalist was adorably thrilled about. "I’m so excited about this!! And also absolutely terrified! My first ever hosting gig and for SNL of all things!!!!" she posted on Instagram. "I’ve always wanted to do it as a standalone moment, so that I could roll up my sleeves and fully throw myself into it, but the time has never been right. But if there was ever a time for any of us to jump head first into the deep end with our eyes closed and hope for the best, it’s 2020 right?"
Ariana DeBose
As a performer used to the intense eight-shows-a-week schedule of theater, West Side Story star Ariana DeBose knows very well the demands of a live performance. And hosting Saturday Night Live in 2022 was certainly demanding but also rewarding, the star revealed on her Instagram. "The smile on my face says it all. That was, no lie, one of the craziest weeks of life so far, but such a thrilling ride. There’s nothing—I repeat—nothing like @nbcsnl."
Amy Schumer
Hosting SNL is always nerve-wracking, even for a comedy pro like Amy Schumer, but add in a family emergency and you've got a whole new level of anxiety. "I missed Thursday rehearsals when my son was rushed to the ER and admitted for RSV," Schumer revealed on her Instagram. "I got to be with him the whole day at the hospital and the beautiful humans at @nbcsnl couldn't have been more supportive. " Thankfully, Schumer's son Gene ended up being fine and the comic was able to host the show on Saturday night as planned.
Travis Kelce
"That was a moment that I wanted to remember forever … Being behind that door and being on that stage and being in that studio was just so iconic," football star Travis Kelce said about hosting SNL, during an episode of his New Heights podcast with brother Jason. Travis jokingly added there was one thing he told himself repeatedly while hosting: "'Travis, don't fall down these steps. Do not fall down these steps—you are live, dude, you are live!'"
