It happens every Friday around 5 pm: Someone posts a gif of Daniel Craig introducing The Weeknd on the March 7, 2020 episode of SNL. It might even be the most-watched thing the actor has ever done, outperforming even TNT reruns of Casino Royale. Not even Craig himself knew it would be a popular meme; in fact, he only recently found about its online ubiquity. But there was one person who foresaw it becoming a social media staple: His No Time to Die adversary Rami Malek.
Entertainment Weekly recently did a group interview with stars Craig, Malek, Léa Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, and director Cary Fukunaga. In it, Malek informed his colleagues that Craig’s introduction — in which he simply says, “Ladies and gentlemen: The Weeknd” — is internet famous.
“You don’t know about this,” Malek told them. “It’s gone viral, his announcement of the Weeknd on that show, and it’s done so flawlessly that people pick it up because it’s unusual in the best way. It’s so unique. I was there that night in the audience watching it. I thought to myself at that moment, I looked over to my partner, and I said, ‘I think that’s the best introduction of a band I’ve ever heard on SNL and apparently…'”
“You were right,” Craig interrupted.
They also discussed one of Craig’s already well-known habits, in which he kisses his male costars after scenes. “I kiss lots of people,” Craig told them. “It’s like, I’m a very friendly guy, and I wouldn’t rank anybody. That would be a terrible, terrible thing to do, to rank the best kissers. I would just… how many people could I offend? Terrible. Thousands, thousands of people.”
Craig also said he used to kiss Malek at the end of every scene. But Malek says he did more than not mind: “I would just rush through scenes just to get to that moment that you would get kissed. ‘Cary, Cary, two takes, we’re good?’
(Via EW)
