Saturday Night Live has boasted an incredible lineup of hosts over the course of its 49-season run — but there are still some legendary holdouts the creative team wish they could line up.
SNL boss Lorne Michaels and writer-cast member Michael Che revealed their “white whale” celebrity hosts — that is, the stars that they wish the show could land as hosts — in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
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Michaels said that a legendary movie star-turned-director was hesitant to host SNL during its early seasons and never acquiesced despite remaining in the entertainment industry for the entirety of its run. “We tried very hard for Clint [Eastwood], particularly in the ’70s,” he said. “Movie stars in that period did not do television. Occasionally they did with us, but there was a real chance of being humiliated in front of millions of people, and we don’t pay anything, so you’d have to do it because you were game for it.”
Michaels conceded that the show’s host history is so wide-reaching that he ultimately can’t complain about missing out on one or two: “In the end, pretty much everyone has [come on], so there’s no one out there where I go, ‘Oh, if that person would just do it, my life would be complete.'”
Che expressed a similar sentiment, as many of his dream hosts ended up performing on the show during his tenure. “I’m fortunate enough to have had a lot of white whales come through — [Adam] Sandler, [Eddie] Murphy, [Dave] Chappelle,” he said. Sandler performed on the show from 1991 to 1995, but didn’t return to host until 2019. Murphy starred on the show from 1980 to 1984 and hosted twice in the ’80s, but also didn’t come back as host until 2019. After a hiatus from live comedy, Chappelle made his hosting debut in the episode immediately following the 2016 presidential election, and returned to host twice more in 2020 and 2022.
Che does dream of one more iconic entertainer making their SNL debut. “My white whale at this point would be Denzel Washington,” he said. “He’s kind of our Brando, and it would be amazing to just see him be silly and funny.”
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Although it feels like every entertainer under the sun has hosted SNL at some point in the last half-century, there are still a number of high-profile stars who have never appeared on the show, including Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Will Smith, Meryl Streep, Sandra Bullock, Harrison Ford, Angelina Jolie, Keanu Reeves, Viola Davis, Holly Hunter, Al Pacino, Kevin Costner, and Michelle Pfeiffer. There are also numerous A-listers who briefly appeared on the show in cameos, but never actually hosted the show, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Morgan Freeman.
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SNL kicks off its 50th season on Sept. 28 with first-time host Jean Smart and first-time musical guest Jelly Roll.
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