'SNL' recap: Justin Timberlake crashes Dakota Johnson's monologue
Justin Timberlake returned to the Saturday evening live on stage for the first time in ten years, crashing host Dakota Johnson's monologue.
“I'm so excited to be back SNL. Are a reunion of sorts for me and Justin Timberlake [because] we were actually in a movie together called The social network” Johnson, 34, said during the opening of the Saturday, Jan. 27 episode, referencing the 2010 film after the invention of Facebook.
Before the actress could continue with her monologue, Timberlake, 42, walked on stage and surprised her.
“I remember those days, Dakota,” Timberlake mused for the Mrs. Web star asked why he was on the Studio 8H stage since he was tapped as Saturday's musical guest. “I heard my name. I thought this was my cue,” he continued. “Well, if you want me to be in skits, I've hosted before.”
Timberlake went on to say that he had previously hosted the show five times, with Johnson noting that it was “10 years ago,” and that she was so excited for the singer to make his comeback on “my show.” While Johnson claimed she didn't need any help to finish her monologue, another surprise guest walked onto the stage.
Jimmy Fallona former one SNL cast member and a friend of Timberlake's, and then stepped onto the stage wearing a '70s-inspired white suit.
“Are we doing this?” Fallon, 49, asked before Timberlake pantomimed that the duo should leave the soundstage. Fallon added, “I'm here to say break a leg. These are my normal clothes!”
Timberlake and Fallon got their wish for a cameo, appearing in the “Barry Gibb Talk Show” sketch in matching white suits and wigs to discuss the 2024 presidential election.
As the episode's musical guest, Timberlake sang 'Selfish' and “Sanctified,” both are songs from his upcoming album, Everything I thought it was.
Timberlake is one SNL veteran, tapped several times as host and musical guest. He made his debut in 2000 with his 'NSync bandmates Lance Bass, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick And JC Chasez. Timberlake later hosted episodes in 2003, 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2013, playing dual roles as host and musical guest three times.
Timberlake has also made many now-viral cameos SNLincluding several musical numbers featuring former cast member Andy Samberg and his The Lonely Island collaborators, Akiva Schaffer And Jorma Taccone. Timberlake and the comedy trio joined forces for several music videos, including “D–k in a Box.”
“Jorma [said], 'What if we do the old popcorn from the movie joke?' He said, 'You know the whole dk in the popcorn,'” Timberlake recalled of the draft pitch during a “Hot ones” interview in 2020. “I was like, 'That sounds super scary, man!' To which we then said, “Yes, that's completely appropriate for two guys who are completely deluded about what's appropriate.”
Although Timberlake wanted to try out the concept, he was afraid the FCC would approve SNL when they said the word 'd–k' live on television. By the time rehearsals started, the FCC informed them that the sketch had to be censored.
While many TV shows have made household names out of their star players, showrunners have occasionally managed to get some of Hollywood's biggest names together for a surprise cameo during an entire episode or a single scene. Perhaps one of the most polarizing cameos came from Ed Sheeran in HBO's Game of […]
“I think the irony of that is I think the funnier version of that is the bleached-out version,” Timberlake added at the time. “I fully believe that this idea would not have been fully thought through if the big wigs had known what we were doing.”
Schaffer, 46, previously told NPR in 2013 that Timberlake helped them find the sketch's musical sound.
“When he came to play that song with us, he taught us ten things, I would say, that we still use to this day, about just recording properly and some little tricks about using the left speaker versus the right speaker . and stuff like that,” Schaffer told the outlet.
Saturday's episode also featured cameos from Shark cage mentors Barbara Corcoran And Mark Cubanwho played themselves in an entrepreneurial sketch.
Saturday evening live airs on NBC Saturdays at 11:30 PM ET.