Reese Witherspoon is setting the record straight on why she’s only hosted “Saturday Night Live” twice in her career.
During a Nov. 3 episode of Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast, “The Morning Show” star spoke candidly about her first time at Studio 8H and why it prompted her to steer clear of the show for 15 years.
Witherspoon made her “SNL” hosting debut on Sept. 29, 2001, just weeks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York City.
“I would give that zero stars. Do not recommend,” she told Shepard of the timing.“It was just too much responsibility for a 24-year-old girl.”
Witherspoon continued: “Lorne Michaels called me and he said, ‘I really need you to show up. I really, really need this. Rudy Giuliani’s gonna be here. All the firefighters are gonna be here. Paul Simon is gonna sing. I just need you to come out and do something a little light and tell America — you can’t feel — we gotta laugh again. We’ve got to get back the national spirit.“
She obliged, claiming that her “Southern and military ethics” prevented her from backing out.
“I was 24. I also had a baby. I had a one-year-old. I was a new mom. I had the biggest movie come out that summer,” she added, referring to “Legally Blonde.”
As for the show, Witherspoon said, “we did it and it was good,” but noted she “completely left [her] body” during it. The experience was so jarring that she admitted she “did not go again for 15 years,” referring to her second time hosting in 2015.
The 2001 episode opened with then-New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani delivering a speech, surrounded by New York City firefighters and police officers. Paul Simon then appeared to sing “The Boxer” before Witherspoon’s monologue and the sketches came on.
Witherspoon has not hosted “SNL” since 2015.
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