A lot’s happened since Casey Affleck hosted the last new SNL on Dec. 17. For one thing, Christmas and New Year’s Day came and went. Also, the president-elect is embroiled in a scandal involving the words “Russia,” “prostitutes,” and “golden showers.” There will be plenty of pee jokes during the cold open (and Weekend Update), but the episode also has to make room for Star Wars references. Felicity Jones hosts this Saturday’s episode, and some “friends” of hers from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story have tagged along for moral support.
By which I mean, they boo her.
In the promo above, the Academy Award-nominated actress — who’s not exactly known for her comedy; The Theory of Everything had surprisingly few laughs — drops some “you’re a real bunch of troopers” wordplay on a gang of Stormtroopers. They don’t appreciate it, even going so far as to audibly groan after the punchline, but it could have gone worse — Lorne Michaels wisely shut down Jones’ “Sand People drive like this” routine. It got pretty racist.
Jones is joined by Sturgill Simpson, whose most recent album, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, is nominated for Album of the Year and Best Country Album at the upcoming Grammy Awards. They’ll be followed by Aziz Ansari and Big Sean.
What’s a Tusken Raider gotta do to host SNL?
