Originally appeared on E! Online
Glen Powell’s Saturday Night Live hosting debut was years in the making.
During his opening monologue on the Nov. 15 episode of the NBC sketch comedy series, the Top Gun: Maverick star revealed he was previously scheduled to handle MC duties in 2021 to coincide with the release of the action movie. However, things changed when the film was rescheduled to hit theatres in May 2022.
“Top Gun got delayed because of COVID, so SNL had to take their offer back,” Glen explained. “Lorne Michaels literally called me and said, ‘Without Top Gun’—and these are his words—‘no one will know who the F you are.’”
But Glen, 37, admitted he jumped the gun prior to the cancellation, excitedly telling a UPS delivery driver about the career milestone moments after receiving the offer. In fact, the actor shared a selfie he and his family took with the driver to mark the would-be occasion.
For a look back at some of SNL’s most memorable hosts through the years, keep reading.
(E! and Saturday Night Live are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
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“For four years this UPS driver was going around saying Glen Powell is a liar,” he continued. “So now I’m here hosting. It feels amazing, but what feels even better is proving to this UPS driver that I am not crazy.”
In fact, Glen invited the delivery worker, Mitch, to New York City after his sisters “tracked him down,” bringing his story full-circle by snapping another selfie onstage at Studio 8H.
Will Heath/NBC
“I had to wait my entire life, plus four years, to be here,” Glen declared. “But if I have learned anything, it is that the best things in life don’t happen overnight—and no one knows that better than UPS.”
While it took Glen longer than anticipated to host SNL, he previously made a cameo appearance on the long-running series in 2024, when his Anyone But You costar Sydney Sweeney poked fun at their romance rumors during her own hosting stint.
“Me and my fiancé produced the movie together, and he was there the entire shoot,” she said of her then-fiancé Jonathan Davino. “He even came here tonight to support me. Can we cut to him?”
But instead, cameras turned to Glen, who sat smiling in the studio audience.
“That’s not my fiancé,” Sydney continued. “He’s in my dressing room!”
For a look back at some of SNL’s most memorable hosts through the years, keep reading.
(E! and Saturday Night Live are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
Kim Kardashian
Tom Hanks
With 10 hosting gigs under his belt—including the show’s first remotely-filmed episode back in April 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic—you know that when America’s Dad is in Studio 8H, you’re in for a wonderful time. Don’t believe us? We have just three words for you: David. S. Pumpkins.
Jon Hamm
Hamm left audiences stunned with his considerable comedic chops when he hosted for the first time in 2008. He’s has sinced followed up two more times and has had a handful of surprise cameos.
From his unforgettable “Jon Hamm’s John Ham” sketch—you know, lunch meat you eat on the toilet—to his live-action Ace in an adaptation of the iconic Ambiguously Gay Duo animated sketch, he’s ingratiated himself with cast in a way few other hosts ever have.
Melissa McCarthy
There is arguably no one on this planet more committed to their craft than the Bridesmaids legend. Case in point? The “Taste Test” sketch in her first at bat as host, back in 2011, when she covered herself in Hidden Valley ranch dressing for a gag.
In less than a decade, she’s already joined the infamous Five-Timers Club, and even began making semi-regular appearances a particularly enraged Sean Spicer during his brief tenure in the Trump administration.
Justin Timberlake
Nearly every celeb on this list could’ve become a full-time cast member on SNL, easily. And for a time there, it seemed like JT actually might. From “Omletteville,” “D–k in a Box,” and “Barry Gibb Talk Show” to “Mother Lover,” each of Timberlake’s five appearances as host made moments that permeated pop culture. And his appearance as one of Beyonce‘s “Single Ladies” back-up dancers alongside Bobby Moynihan and Andy Samberg? Amazing.
Steve Martin
There are few people who have hosted SNL more than the legendary comedian—in fact, there’s only one—and in his 16 stints in Studio 8H between 1976 and 2009, he created memorable characters (the “wild and crazy” Festrunk Brothers, King Tut) and delivered what would become one of the show’s most heartfelt moments, honoring Gilda Radner‘s passing from cancer with a look back at a blissful dance the two shared through the studio.
Scarlett Johansson
Not only is ScarJo part of the SNL family thanks to her romance with Colin Jost, but the six-time host has created some indelible moments over the years since her debut in 2006.
She’s been on hand for whenever the show needed someone to step into Ivanka Trump‘s shoes, appeared in the grotesque Shud the Mermaid sketch opposite Kate McKinnon and played Lexi (daughter to Fred Armisen‘s Mark) as the duo hawk chandeliers, ceramic busts, marble columns and porcelain fountains in the fan-favorite sketch.
Betty White
Unlike everyone else on this list (save for Kim Kardashian), the late TV icon only hosted SNL once. And, at 88 years old, she became the show’s oldest host in its history. The appearance was made even more special because it was literally fan-demanded through a successful Facebook campaign after White’s role in The Proposal.
She’s also on this list because, well, she was freaking hilarious. Our favorite sketch from the episode is this absurd one where Tina Fey‘s census taker tries, in vain, to get a straight answer out of White.
Dwayne Johnson
A member of the Five Timer’s Club, Johnson earned his spot on this list the minute he agreed to do The Rock Obama. Enough said.
Alec Baldwin
With 17 official hosting gigs on his resume and countless appearances as former President Donald Trump, Baldwin may be the only star not officially on the payroll who is more closely associated with SNL.
From classics like Canteen Boy and Schweddy Balls to impressions of Tony Bennett and, yes, Trump, Baldwin has given fans so much during his many, many visits to Studio 8H.
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