It’s hard not to feel like Glen Powell is everywhere these days. He hosted “Saturday Night Live” for the first time this weekend as “The Running Man” appeared in theaters, just over a month after his show, “Chad Powers,” appeared on Hulu. During the monologue, Powell leaned into that perception.
“I know some of you are tired of seeing my face, hell, I’m tired of seeing my face too,” Powell said. “But you know who is not tired of seeing my face?” he added with a wink: “Your mom.”
This wasn’t Powell’s first rodeo. In 2024, he cameoed in an episode hosted by Sydney Sweeney, playing on rumors that the two were dating after they appeared in the rom-com “Anyone But You” together. Powell said that he had been slated to host SNL four years ago — but got bumped when the release of “Top Gun: Maverick” was delayed.
Powell brings ‘Mitch the UPS guy’ onstage
As part of the monologue, Powell talked about how he got the call to host SNL four years ago while he was hanging out with his family on their front porch. When a UPS delivery man came by, Powell shared the exciting news and they even took a selfie together. But since the gig got rescinded, “this UPS driver was just going around saying “Glen Powell is a liar.” To bring things full circle, Powell then brought that exact UPS employee on the SNL stage.
“Look, I had to wait my entire life, plus four years, to be here, but if I have learned anything, it’s that the best things in life don’t happen overnight,” Powell said, with his arm around “Mitch the UPS guy.” “No one knows that better than UPS.”
Dad jokes like that, combined with his sturdy, movie star charm, carried Powell through the episode. Here are more highlights.
An Epstein files cold open
In the cold open, Ashley Padilla played White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who dodged questions from reporters about President Donald Trump’s involvement with Jeffrey Epstein.
“If anything, his crime was loving too much — and possibly too young,” Padilla said, trying to steer the briefing to other subjects. When a Fox News reporter, played by new cast member Kam Patterson, asked if Trump was “too healthy,” Padilla responded that Trump did well during a recent cognitive test. “They said we’d like to see you again as soon as possible,” Padilla added to laughs.
A recurring theme of this season of SNL is Trump (James Austin Johnson) interrupting political sketches, so when he appeared behind the White House podium, it wasn’t a surprise. He launched into a monologue of his own, discussing how he and Epstein were “always leering and pointing at something just off camera, probably a book we’re excited to read” before rambling about LGBTQ slang like “twink” and “kiki.”
Getting back on subject, Johnson promised to release all of the Epstein files “for the low, low price of $800” per document, holding up a “a beautiful, one-of-a-kind, printed-out screenshot in very low res.”
Epstein also led the news headlines on Weekend Update with Colin Jost and Michael Che.
Will Forte returned for MacGruber
Alongside Powell and cast member Chloe Fineman, Will Forte returned to SNL this weekend for a series of MacGruber sketches. Forte has long-played this character, a parody of MacGyver who gets distracted from a defusing ticking bomb. Once the bomb blows, MacGruber and his fellow agents don’t die but simply repeat a similar scenario in a different location.
This MacGruber scenario begins as Powell realizes the bomb has been planted because he was going to leak the Epstein files. At first, Forte is thrilled, proclaiming that for “far too long the rich and powerful have lived by a different set of rules than the rest of us.” But once Forte gets a look at the files, he grimaces and begins shredding the files, leading his compatriots to question if MacGruber is in the Epstein files.
The bomb blows, but in the following skits, we learn Powell made a copy of the files, leading Forte to admit that he “worked on the ground crew, servicing the aircraft.” As MacGruber tries to kill time, Powell asks him if he’d testify about who he saw on the plane, noting that “there are a lot of very powerful people who would do just about anything to keep your mouth shut.” That prompts MacGruber to change his tune: “Money and pardons, you’re saying?
Marcello Hernandez continues to run the show
In appearances as Domingo, the Movie Guy, and other bit parts this season, Marcello Hernandez has continued to shine in outlandish personae. This weekend, Hernandez unveiled a new impression in a bachelor party sketch: comedian Sebastian Maniscalco.
As Powell, playing the future groom, tells his friends about one more guest coming, Hernandez bursts through the door and launches into an impressive Maniscalco, complete with flailing hands and a stand-up routine about traffic.
The other partygoers try to get things back on track, causing Hernandez-as-Maniscalco to ad-lib in the background (“Oh my god,” “You’ve got to be kidding me,” “This guy”) before hogging the spotlight with observations that could’ve been straight from Maniscalco’s latest special. Hernandez continues to draw attention away from the groom, leading the group to grow more frustrated. But Powell jumps to his defense, saying that, “Every day, I have to quiet down my inner Sebastian,” jumping into an impression of his own.
They’re interrupted by Fineman, who arrives as a stripper for the bachelor party. There’s only one surprise: It’s Jennifer Coolidge, one of Fineman’s strongest impressions.
Olivia Dean breaks through stateside
It might seem like musical guest Olivia Dean came out of nowhere. After a few hits in England, Dean’s first major hit stateside is “Man I Need,” a jubilant neo-soul number she delivered Saturday backlit in orange alongside a pink-clad band. Returning for the classy, waltzing “Let Alone the One You Love,” Dean’s appearance was a reminder that SNL still can have its finger on the pulse of pop music.
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