Surprise! Saturday Night Live’s hosts and musical guests are typically the center of attention each week — but sometimes more famous faces appear on the show than fans expect.
Tyler Cameron crashed Kim Kardashian’s hosting debut in October 2021, joining her for a Bachelor-inspired sketch. “That [experience] was incredible,” the Florida native exclusively told Us Weekly weeks after he appeared alongside John Cena, Chace Crawford and more in the “Dream Guy” bit. “I was on stage with some just elite stars.”
The You Deserve Better author went on to describe what it was like to be in the company of A-List movie stars and pro athletes on the iconic comedy series.
“Chris Rock and, you know, Blake Griffin is a homie,” Cameron recalled to Us at the time. “But Chace Crawford, to be around him, and Jesse Williams and all these just hot guys in New York. And Kim Kardashian looked amazing and she did such a great job. She was so funny. … We’re downstairs playing poker and Amy Schumer started a poker game with sugar packets and we just started having a blast, you know, and that broke the ice. We all just started kicking it, having fun, asking questions.”
Elsewhere in the Skims CEO’s hosting debut, she enlisted a few of her famous family members to show up by her side — while simultaneously poking fun at her other siblings. Kardashian impersonated her older sister, Kourtney Kardashian, in “The People’s Kourt” sketch, during which Kim’s version of the Poosh founder presided over a series of family disagreements. Mom Kris Jenner and sister Khloé Kardashian each portrayed themselves, with the matriarch jokingly suing pregnant Kylie Jenner (played by Melissa Villaseñor) for not giving birth to her second child fast enough.
“I had Khloé in four months, do your kegel exercises and use your vagine,” the Safely founder teased during the October 2021 episode.
The Bachelorette hunk and the Keeping Up With the Kardashians alums have not been the only stars to unexpectedly drop by the NBC late-night series. During Jonah Hill’s January 2014 monologue, one of his former costars helped calm his pre-show nerves.
“Hey, buddy,” Leonardo DiCaprio told the Superbad actor at the top of the episode after Hill claimed he was the sole reason the Oscar winner joined the Wolf of Wall Street. “I have a question: What the hell are you doing, man? I don’t think you were [talking me up]. I mean, I actually came here to support you. I’ve been backstage the whole time!”
Scroll below to relive the most memorable SNL cameo appearances through the years:
Surprise! Saturday Night Live’s hosts and musical guests are typically the center of attention each week — but sometimes more famous faces appear on the show than fans expect.
Tyler Cameron crashed Kim Kardashian’s hosting debut in October 2021, joining her for a Bachelor-inspired sketch. “That [experience] was incredible,” the Florida native exclusively told Us Weekly weeks after he appeared alongside John Cena, Chace Crawford and more in the “Dream Guy” bit. “I was on stage with some just elite stars.”
The You Deserve Better author went on to describe what it was like to be in the company of A-List movie stars and pro athletes on the iconic comedy series.
“Chris Rock and, you know, Blake Griffin is a homie,” Cameron recalled to Us at the time. “But Chace Crawford, to be around him, and Jesse Williams and all these just hot guys in New York. And Kim Kardashian looked amazing and she did such a great job. She was so funny. … We’re downstairs playing poker and Amy Schumer started a poker game with sugar packets and we just started having a blast, you know, and that broke the ice. We all just started kicking it, having fun, asking questions.”
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Elsewhere in the Skims CEO’s hosting debut, she enlisted a few of her famous family members to show up by her side — while simultaneously poking fun at her other siblings. Kardashian impersonated her older sister, Kourtney Kardashian, in “The People’s Kourt” sketch, during which Kim’s version of the Poosh founder presided over a series of family disagreements. Mom Kris Jenner and sister Khloé Kardashian each portrayed themselves, with the matriarch jokingly suing pregnant Kylie Jenner (played by Melissa Villaseñor) for not giving birth to her second child fast enough.
“I had Khloé in four months, do your kegel exercises and use your vagine,” the Safely founder teased during the October 2021 episode.
The Bachelorette hunk and the Keeping Up With the Kardashians alums have not been the only stars to unexpectedly drop by the NBC late-night series. During Jonah Hill’s January 2014 monologue, one of his former costars helped calm his pre-show nerves.
“Hey, buddy,” Leonardo DiCaprio told the Superbad actor at the top of the episode after Hill claimed he was the sole reason the Oscar winner joined the Wolf of Wall Street. “I have a question: What the hell are you doing, man? I don’t think you were [talking me up]. I mean, I actually came here to support you. I’ve been backstage the whole time!”
Scroll below to relive the most memorable SNL cameo appearances through the years:
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Credit: NBC
Kel Mitchell
The Good Burger star reunited with costar Kenan Thompson on the December 3, 2022, episode of SNL, where Thompson is the longest-serving cast member. The pair teamed up for a Kenan & Kel reboot sketch alongside episode host Keke Palmer.
Credit: Rosalind O’Connor/NBC
Ice-T
Dave Chappelle enlisted the Law & Order: SVU star for a November 2022 parody of House of the Dragon.
“I got to tell you, I love that they’re including Black characters. But, to be honest, the Black characters, they take me out of it a bit,” Chappelle said on the SNL stage. “It’s the blonde hair and old-timey accents. It’s a little jarring. Where are these people from?”
The variety series’ cast members then spoofed a potential season 2 of the Game of Thrones prequel, in which Ice-T played Chappelle’s cousin in a pivotal battle scene.
Credit: NBC
Tom Hanks and Bobby Moynihan
The Big star reprised his SNL character of “David S. Pumpkins” during the October 2022 Halloween episode, in which he hoped to terrify a group of haunted house visitors. While Hanks’ efforts were not successful, he did have fun busting a move with former cast member Moynihan.
Credit: NBC
Jeff Probst
The longtime Survivor host made an unexpected cameo as himself in an October 2022 episode, in which Jack Harlow’s groom was surprised that his guests disapproved of his wedding. Probst, for his part, quipped his signature catchphrase, “The tribe has spoken,” after everyone voiced their concerns. He even extinguished a torch like a Survivor elimination.
Credit: Will Heath/NBC
Colin Farrell
Farrell crashed Brendan Gleeson’s SNL monologue during his October 2022 hosting debut, in which he had a very important question to ask.
“Who’s your favorite costar?” the Ireland native quipped to Gleeson, whom he worked with on In Bruges and The Banshees of Inisherin. Farrell, however, was ultimately disappointed that he didn’t beat out both Paddington Bear (from Paddington Bear 2) and Cillian Murphy (from Perrier’s Bounty) for the honor.
The twosome closed out Gleeson’s monologue with an original duet. Farrell later joined Gleeson in a skit about passport headshots.
Credit: NBC
Jon Hamm and Shaun White
Both the Mad Man alum and the Olympian played themselves in the SNL season 48 premiere cold open, which was inspired by Peyton and Eli Manning’s “Manningcast” recap series.
Hamm joined the Manning brothers (played by episode host Miles Teller and cast member Andrew Dismukes) to offer commentary on how the show was going so far. The trio watched as White played a judge during a parody sketch about former President Donald Trump.
“You know, sometimes [they have to add cameos] when the host isn’t that famous,” the Bridesmaids actor quipped. “Maybe they couldn’t get the star of the big summer movie [like] Tom Cruise or Jon Hamm, [so] they had to get the costar.”
Credit: Will Heath/NBC
Fred Armisen and Maya Rudolph
The SNL alums returned to the NBC stage during the season 47 finale in May 2022 in the middle of Natasha Lyonne’s monologue. The Russian Doll star, who confirmed her split from Armisen one month prior, was treated to a pair of impressions by the comedians as they attempted to tackle her signature raspy voice.
Credit: NBC
Steve Martin
The Only Murders in the Building star portrayed the fictional inventor of the whoopee cushion, Archie Gizmo, as he explained how a woman (played by Aidy Bryant) inspired his prank design in an “Inventor Documentary” sketch during Selena Gomez’s hosting debut.
Credit: NBC
Elizabeth Olsen
The California native made a cameo when her Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness costar Benedict Cumberbatch hosted in May 2022. She appeared in a sketch called “The Understudy” where Chloe Fineman impersonated her so well that Cumberbatch believed the SNL cast member was the Scarlet Witch actress.
Credit: Will Pippin/NBC
Kris Jenner and Khloe Kardashian
The former Revenge Body host and the Jenner Communications founder made multiple cameos during Kim’s episode, appearing alongside the Selfish author and cast member Aidy Bryant in October 2021. In the sketch, Kim and the Shrill star traded places. While Kim-as-Aidy was hard at work writing SNL jokes, Aidy-as-Kim lived her best influencer life while hanging out with the reality TV stars in her luxe dressing room.
Credit: NBC
Tyler Cameron
“Thank you so much for showing me your perfectly hot body,” Kim told the Real Dirty Dancing star during October 2021’s “Dream Guy” skit. “That was really vulnerable of you. Do you accept this token?”
Credit: Will Heath/NBC
Daniel Craig
The Skyfall star joined his No Time to Die costar Rami Malek for an onscreen “Prince-off” in October 2021. The twosome, alongside Kenan Thompson, did their best impressions of the late “Purple Rain” crooner for a chance to play him in an upcoming biopic.
Credit: Will Heath/NBC
Tom Hanks and Tina Fey
“Thank you, surviving crew members,” Hanks explained during a pre-recorded segment during the last episode of December 2021, with assistance from the 30 Rock creator. “Tonight, everyone at Saturday Night Live planned to do our big Christmas show and induct a new member into our Five-Timer’s club. But COVID came early this year, so in the interest of safety, we do not have an audience and we sent home our cast [and] most of our crew. But I came here from California. If you think I was going to fly 3,000 miles and not be on TV, you’ve got another thing coming. … Tonight, we planned to welcome Paul Rudd to the club and we’re not going to let this stop us.”
Credit: Will Heath/NBC
Grimes
The songstress joined then-boyfriend Elon Musk — with whom she shares son X AE A-Xii — during his May 2021 hosting debut as they played Princess Peach and Mario, respectively, in a courtroom sketch.
Credit: Will Heath/NBC
Eugene Levy
“I flew in to wish you luck tonight, but because I traveled, I’m now in this tight isolation box,” the American Pie actor told son Dan Levy during a February 2021 episode, which was shot amid the coronavirus pandemic with strict health guidelines in place. “I didn’t know about the box at the time. I found out when I landed. Listen, don’t worry about me. I’m fine. OK? You’ve got enough on your plate tonight.”
Credit: NBC
Eminem
As Pete Davidson parodied the Michigan native during a December 2020 episode while performing a new version of his “Stan,” Eminem himself joined in on the fun. “That’s crazy. A PS5? I didn’t even ask for this!” the rapper said at the end of the taped sketch, opening a Christmas present. “I guess Shady must have been a good boy this year. Sorry, Stu. You f–ked up.”
Credit: NBC
Jason Momoa
The Aquaman star shocked fans when he popped by during an October 2019 episode hosted by Chance the Rapper, portraying a defendant in “First Impressions Court.” While explaining his case, Momoa even ripped open his shirt, showing off his toned abs.
Credit: NBC
Scarlett Johansson
The Black Widow star — who married SNL’s Colin Jost in October 2020 — appeared in a December 2017 episode, playing Ivanka Trump during a cold open about the White House Christmas celebrations.
Credit: NBC
Leonardo DiCaprio
After Hill attempted to act like a “big shot” during his monologue, the Growing Pains alum helped calm his nerves with a sweet Titanic-inspired gesture.
“Can we do the thing we always did every day, the thing that made me feel safe?” Hill asked at the time as DiCaprio held him from behind, just like he did with Kate Winslet in the 1997 movie.
Credit: NBC
Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson and Jennifer Lawrence
Fresh off Woody Harrelson’s turn in the Hunger Games series, a trio of his District 12 costars joined his November 2014 hosting gig. During Harrelson’s monologue, the group rewrote the lyrics to Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” in honor of the year 1989 and his first time on the NBC show.
