‘SNL’: Timothée Chalamet as Wonka Sings About End of Actors’ Strike
Live from New York on Saturday night, Timothée Chalamet took the stage as host of Saturday Night Live and, during his opening monologue, celebrated how the union SAG-AFTRA reached a deal with the Hollywood studios this week, putting an end to the 118-day actors’ strike.
“I do feel lucky to be hosting until after the SAG strike ended because up until two days ago, and I know this is what we were all thinking about, actors couldn’t talk about their movies,” offered Chalamet. “The only thing I was allowed to talk about was that I have a commercial coming out. It’s an ad for Chanel perfume directed by Martin Scorsese, and let me tell you, when you get that call that Martin Scorsese wants to direct you, the first thing you think is, man, I really hope it’s a perfume commercial!”
“And now the strike is over, and it’s like we’re all returning to this magical world where actors can all talk about their projects,” he added, as the music for the song “Pure Imagination” began to play from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and someone off screen handed him a cane.
Then, Chalamet — who will play Willy Wonka in the upcoming film Wonka, out Dec. 15 — began to sing along to the tune:
“Come with me, and you’ll be, in a world of shameless self-promotion. It’s OK, I can say, that my new film Wonka is out in theaters December 15th, Fandango, key word: Hugh Grant.”
“If you want to view a three-and-a-half-hour film, go see Killers of the Flower Moon. Or just wait for Part Two of Dune. Just make sure before to… use the bathroom. You know, after 118 days of thinking about AI, it is so refreshing to be here amongst real human beings… but thanks to the new SAG deal, TV shows can’t just use AI to make it look like a crowd is bigger than it actually is. Isn’t that right, people in the bleachers?” — throwing to an AI-generated crowd in the cheap seats.
He continued: “Look, the really important thing is the return of America’s favorite industry: Hollywood.”
And if all that weren’t enough, SNL cast member Marcello Hernández joined Chalamet on stage to rap a silly song about having a baby face even though you “eat the booty with a bib.”
Punkie Johnson and Kenan Thompson also joined in on the fun.