From Hogwarts to Wakanda, Studio 8H has welcomed some incredible talent who weren't afraid to poke fun at their iconic roles! Join us as we revisit the most memorable moments when stars returned to their famous characters with a comedic twist. These performances prove that sometimes the best way to honor a character is to laugh with them.
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00:00Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the best, funniest, and most
00:11iconic moments when SNL hosts brought their beloved characters back to Studio 8H.
00:16I'm double-O.
00:18Seven!
00:19I can't believe that just worked!
00:22Number 10. Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter
00:25You know that guy who peaked in high school and won't stop talking about it?
00:28That's basically Harry Potter in this sketch.
00:31After defeating Voldemort, his life's been a little uneventful.
00:34Uh, congratulations to all of you for being accepted to Hogwarts.
00:38These are going to be the best days of your lives.
00:41Honestly, the best.
00:43It does not get better.
00:45He returns to Hogwarts to welcome new students, but he makes the whole thing about himself.
00:50While everyone else has grown up, marriages, careers, actual lives, Harry's still stuck reliving his heroic past.
00:56Malfoy. Still hanging around. Lurking.
01:00You can't keep living in the past, mate.
01:02I'm a varsity seeker. First year. It doesn't happen often.
01:06Watching Daniel Radcliffe poke fun at his most iconic role is such a treat.
01:10Honestly, this feels like the epilogue we deserved.
01:13And if they ever make Harry Potter and the Midlife Crisis, we'll be first in line.
01:17It'd be a hit.
01:18Awkward, hilarious, and a little too real.
01:21Hey, who wants to reenact the fight I had with Voldemort on the bridge? Spoiler alert, I win.
01:26Yay!
01:26Yeah, go on then, kids. Yes. Off you go. I'll be right behind you.
01:32Still got it.
01:33Number 9. Jon Hamm, Elizabeth Moss, and Jon Slattery as Don Draper, Roger Sterling, and Peggy Olsen.
01:41With Jon Hamm hosting, it felt like a Mad Men moment was bound to happen.
01:45And this sketch delivers. He's joined by co-stars and real-life scene-stealers Jason Sudeikis and Kristen Wiig, reprising their gum-chewing a-holes.
01:55What would you like?
01:56What do you want, babe?
01:57Guess.
01:58She wants you to guess.
01:59Yes, I heard her.
02:00Uh, Gimlet? Martini? Harvey Wallbanger? Grasshopper?
02:06Ovaltine?
02:07It's a brilliant crossover. Everyone's in top form,
02:10but Hamm especially shines with a dramatic monologue that gives serious carousel pitch vibes.
02:16The sketch nails the look and feel of the original series,
02:19while tossing in just enough absurdity to make it sing.
02:21Gentlemen, these suspenders aren't holding up some plastic ring.
02:26They're suspending reality.
02:28They're suspending our childhood.
02:31And this isn't just a hula hoop.
02:34It's the circle of life.
02:35The a-holes might not exactly fit the 1960s aesthetic,
02:39but that just makes it funnier.
02:41Also, we'd 100% watch a retro drama starring these two ridiculous characters.
02:46The Mad Men guys certainly meet their match.
02:48I'll, uh, see you out.
02:50It's, uh, noon. I'm on my way to the bar anyway.
02:53Wait.
02:54Your pocket square looks like a rabbit.
02:57So it does.
02:58Number 8. Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson as Derek Zoolander and Hansel.
03:03It's New York Fashion Week.
03:05Who better to weigh in on style than Derek Zoolander and Hansel?
03:08Well, they're there to talk politics.
03:10Specifically, fashion in politics.
03:13Yeah, look at that suit.
03:14Hey, Chernobyl called.
03:15They want their disaster back.
03:18Yeah, and then Chernobyl called back,
03:20and they were like,
03:21look at that suit.
03:24The sketch milks every bit of comedy
03:25from the pair's clueless worldview colliding with the fashion world's
03:29over-the-top seriousness.
03:30Hillary's from the 90s,
03:32which are very hot right now.
03:33So hot.
03:35They've remade the X-Files and Full House,
03:37and I don't know if you saw this on the news Tuesday,
03:39but OJ Simpson killed again.
03:41With the 2016 election in full swing,
03:44they somehow managed to skip the major issues
03:46and focus on what really matters.
03:49Outfits.
03:49From Hillary Clinton's 90s throwback
03:51to Tom Cruise, apparently.
03:53He has totally let himself go.
03:56This is a real mission impossible for his stylist.
04:01Makes me want to keep my eyes wide shut.
04:04Yeah, he should take his top gun
04:07and do some risky business with a cocktail.
04:11Honestly, where were these fashion pundits
04:13when we needed them?
04:14This wasn't Derek's only weekend update visit.
04:17Zoolander and Stefan teaming up?
04:19That's the crossover movie we want to see.
04:21I don't even want to go to your stupid costume party.
04:24I'm not wearing a costume.
04:26I'm just wearing my new look.
04:27Cold coffee.
04:30Number seven.
04:32Zac Efron as Troy Bolton.
04:34Like Harry Potter earlier,
04:35Troy Bolton left high school only to find out,
04:38surprise, the real world kind of sucks.
04:40But unlike Harry, he's not stuck in the past.
04:43Here's the deal.
04:45No one sings at college.
04:47What?
04:48What?
04:49What?
04:49And from what I can tell,
04:51this is America's only singing high school.
04:54He's back at East High to deliver some crushing news.
04:57Real life isn't a musical.
04:59We know.
05:00Breathe.
05:00Apparently in the real world,
05:02people don't randomly burst into song,
05:04stare into invisible cameras,
05:06or launch into full choreography in the cafeteria.
05:09I have no education.
05:11People think I'm weird.
05:12I don't know how to express myself except in song.
05:17I have nowhere to turn.
05:19Worse.
05:20When you sing out loud, people can hear you.
05:22Still, while Harry's stuck reliving his glory days,
05:25Troy is warmly welcomed back to the all singing,
05:28all dancing East High.
05:30Sounds like High School Musical 4 just wrote itself.
05:32They say you can't go home again,
05:35but here I am with all my friends.
05:38Number six, Aubrey Plaza and Amy Poehler
05:41as April Ludgate and Leslie Knope.
05:44In a segment about getting young people involved
05:46in local government,
05:47who better to weigh in than April Ludgate?
05:50She's still as sardonic, deadpan, and fierce as ever,
05:53with that dark sense of humor barely covering the fact
05:56that she actually cares.
05:57Just don't tell anyone.
05:59Drive a bus.
06:00You don't have to be on time.
06:02Nobody cares.
06:04Work for the water department.
06:06You can drain the reservoir
06:07and find all the bodies and murder clues.
06:10Or just be a dog catcher
06:12and just say you couldn't find any.
06:15She even offers up some sage-ish advice
06:17before stopping herself short of showing she's,
06:20you know, invested.
06:21So who better to take over than Leslie Knope?
06:24She's a huge SNL fan, by the way.
06:26I used to watch this
06:27when Seth Meyers did it by himself with no one else.
06:31And he made it look really easy.
06:35It's so much fun seeing her sunshiny enthusiasm
06:37clash with April's gloomier outlook again.
06:40And it turns out Leslie's got solid comedy chops.
06:44It's almost like she's done this before.
06:46A town in Alaska has launched a bus service for puppies.
06:50The service has expanded to puppies
06:52thanks to the heroic activism
06:53of canine civil rights icon, Rosa Barks.
06:56Number five, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson,
07:00and Jeremy Renner as the Avengers.
07:02With various Avengers actors hosting the show,
07:05SNL hasn't missed a chance to poke fun at the MCU.
07:08Like this sketch,
07:09where Thor is still buzzing from the high
07:11of defeating Ultron
07:12and refuses to turn the hero dial down.
07:15We are the champions, my friend.
07:19What's up?
07:20Wow, wow.
07:21Thor, what a spectacular showing from the Avengers.
07:23How are you feeling?
07:24Oh, man, I am on pure adrenaline right now.
07:27I'm at like an 11.
07:28I'm cranked up.
07:30Woo!
07:30Given how serious the movies can get,
07:33it's so fun seeing Hemsworth
07:35lean into Thor's sillier side.
07:37Then there's the Black Widow trailer,
07:39with Scarlett Johansson playing her as a rom-com lead.
07:42So, who's the guy?
07:45Why do you think there's always a guy, Thor?
07:47Honey, you're putting ketchup on your cereal.
07:51Sure, the eventual movie went the other way,
07:54but come on, the sequel potential is right there.
07:56And of course, Jeremy Renner calling out the obvious.
07:59Hawkeye's powers are not exactly top tier.
08:02Watching him roll with the punches
08:03is genuinely entertaining.
08:05How many arrows did you bring?
08:07All of them, like 11.
08:0911?
08:0911.
08:0911, there are 100,000 aliens out there.
08:13And I killed 11 of them.
08:15You're welcome.
08:16Number four, Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins.
08:20Freeman doesn't just parody
08:21one of his most iconic characters in this sketch.
08:23He mashes up two of them.
08:25Middle Earth meets mundane office life.
08:27I went on a quest, saved Middle Earth.
08:31I became a bit of a hero.
08:35Did the noble thing and turned down loads of treasure.
08:41Yeah, so the brave hobbit Bilbo Baggins
08:44now works at a paper company.
08:46Bilbo Baggins steps into the world of a paper company,
08:49and it totally works.
08:51Turns out Bilbo has a lot in common
08:52with The Office's Tim Canterbury.
08:54Dry wit, self-deprecating humor,
08:56and that low-key, quietly suffering energy that says,
09:00I'm doing my best.
09:01Please don't talk to me before second breakfast.
09:03One for you Lord of the Rings fans.
09:04Solving the next couple of hours.
09:06Yes.
09:10Watching him navigate various co-workers
09:12and petty pranks is weirdly perfect.
09:15Honestly, we'd watch an entire series of this.
09:18Bonus points for Taron Killam returning as Gollum, obviously.
09:21Are you gonna do something about this?
09:23That wasn't me.
09:24Then who was it?
09:25I have no idea.
09:26Oh, sure you don't.
09:27Number three, Paul Meskel as Lucius Verus Aurelius.
09:31After the Barbenheimer summer takeover,
09:33movie pundits were desperate to bottle
09:35that same double-feature magic,
09:38or triple in this case,
09:39with Wicked, Moana 2, and Gladiator 2.
09:42The obvious solution?
09:43Make Gladiator 2 a musical, of course.
09:46They call me gladiator.
09:49They call me a slave.
09:52They call me a killer.
09:55But someday they'll know my name.
09:59And honestly, after seeing Paul Meskel belt out battle ballads and nail choreography,
10:04we're asking, why isn't this a musical?
10:07He's got the voice, the charisma, and enough stage presence to bring the Coliseum down.
10:11Look at little b***h with his wine in his cup.
10:14Sit your ass down, put the f*** up up.
10:16With Lin-Manuel Miranda on lyrics, it basically writes itself.
10:20All we're saying is Broadway better brace itself.
10:23And don't even think about recasting Lucius.
10:26Meskel's got the voice, the charm, and the battle cry to bring the house down.
10:30There's no place, no place like Rome.
10:39Number 2.
10:40Adam Driver as Kylo Ren.
10:42Given the ever-expanding galaxy that is Star Wars,
10:45it's no surprise SNL has taken more than a few swings at it.
10:48But the standout is easily the undercover boss sketch,
10:52where Adam Driver's Kylo Ren poses as Matt, a radar technician,
10:56to see what really goes on at Starkiller Base.
10:58What do you guys think of Kylo Ren?
11:01Do you guys believe when he says that he's going to finish what Darth Vader started?
11:04What exactly has he started?
11:06I will say this for Kylo.
11:08I think he gets a bad rap.
11:10What?
11:10Yeah.
11:11He's trying to accomplish something that's never been done in the history of the galaxy.
11:15You know?
11:15Ridiculous.
11:16Rule everything?
11:17Spoiler, almost no one is fooled by the disguise.
11:20What we get instead is a painfully relatable workplace scenario,
11:24where the big boss tries to experience the daily grind,
11:27and, surprise, surprise, absolutely cannot handle it.
11:30Can you please stop yelling me?
11:31You're starting to stress me out.
11:33I have a newfound respect for what my employees do.
11:36Okay, now, can we rewire it, please?
11:39So I can go have my muffin.
11:40I haven't had my muffin yet, Matt.
11:43It's not as easy as I presume.
11:45Driver plays it completely straight-faced,
11:47which somehow makes it even funnier.
11:49No wonder they brought him back for a,
11:51where are they now?
11:52How'd it go?
11:53Oh, I'd say pretty good.
11:54Oh, I made four new friends and only killed one of them.
11:57I'd say that's a pretty good start.
12:01Before we unveil our top pick,
12:03here are a few honorable mentions.
12:05Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister.
12:07Those dragons really do steal the scene.
12:09Why don't we just do that once more?
12:11What are you doing?
12:14I was just being intense.
12:16Is that...
12:17You're looking right at me.
12:18Oh, okay.
12:19No, I'll close my eye.
12:20Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen.
12:22Katniss and Peeta might prefer to relive The Hunger Games
12:25than answer these press questions.
12:27Uh, there are allegations that you pretended to be in love
12:30so you both could win.
12:31Uh, how do you address that?
12:33You gotta ignore rumors like that.
12:35We are totally in love.
12:37Really?
12:39Why is that so hard to believe?
12:42Well, for one, you're so much taller than him.
12:44Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen.
12:46Wilson's not so sure about the direction
12:48they've steered his character in Cars 4.
12:50And I can't race because of one bad date?
12:53This is a witch hunt, Your Honor.
12:54Wait, guys.
12:57He's in court?
12:59Yeah, uh, what's the ish, uh?
13:01Well, the ish is that I think Lightning McQueen
13:03is the bad guy in this.
13:04Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.
13:06Two women wash up on Themyscira
13:08to join the speculation around Wonder Woman's sexuality.
13:12I mean, I love all my sisters.
13:15I think their buddies are beautiful.
13:17But when I look at them,
13:19all I see is strength and power.
13:22Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton.
13:25SNL had a founding father's sketch ready,
13:28and they were not throwing away their shot
13:30to get Miranda involved.
13:31All men are created equal.
13:33America, not England.
13:35We do win the sequel.
13:36And we will have leaders,
13:38but no one thing.
13:39In America, we will never have a king!
13:42Before we continue,
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13:56Number 1.
13:59Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa
14:01Darnell, what is one of the best
14:03Black Jeopardy! segments of all time?
14:05It's the one where Chadwick Boseman
14:06plays T'Challa,
14:08still in full Wakandan mode,
14:10trying to wrap his head around
14:11Black American culture.
14:12What is...
14:13Not only do I tell this man what I know,
14:16but I also assist him
14:17in tracking down the offender.
14:20After all,
14:21our ministers of law enforcement
14:22are only here to protect us.
14:24Is this correct?
14:26He brings that royal elegance
14:30and wide-eyed honesty,
14:32which makes every moment land perfectly.
14:34The sketch is smart,
14:36sharp,
14:36and surprisingly wholesome,
14:38with T'Challa slowly catching onto the game
14:40until he draws the line
14:41at unseasoned potato salad.
14:44I sense that this white woman
14:45does not season her food.
14:47That's right.
14:51And if she does,
14:53it is only with a tiny bit of salt.
14:55That's exactly right.
14:56That moment instantly became a classic.
14:58And let's be real,
14:59a necessary public service announcement.
15:02Because yes,
15:02seasoning your food matters.
15:04And no,
15:05salt is not the only one out there.
15:06T'Challa said what he said.
15:08So,
15:08something tells me that I should say.
15:11Say it!
15:12Oh,
15:12hell now,
15:13Karen.
15:14Keep your brand-ass potato salad to yourself.
15:16Yes!
15:18Yay!
15:19What was your favorite character parody?
15:21Let us know in the comments.
15:22We like very much your program,
15:25Saturday Night Lives.
15:27Swing?
15:28Yes?
15:28Yep.
15:30I'll be right back.
15:37I'll be right back.
15:40Knock.
15:41There'll be a thing.
15:41Good?
15:41Good?
15:42I'm sorry.
15:43How are you?
15:44What do you say?
15:46Uh-huh.
15:46How are you?
15:47Good?
15:48Good?
15:49Good?
15:49Good?
15:51Good?
15:51Nothing.
15:52Hello,