Natalie Portman hosting Saturday Night Live (again) on February 3
In a new post on Twitter the NBC series confirmed that news, and added that Dua Lipa is also going to be appearing as the musical guest. Portman has not hosted SNL in over a decade and in some ways, she is somewhat of a surprise for this particular episode when you consider the timing. We’re actually shocked that the series did not try to bring in an athlete or someone who has connections with the Winter Olympics, given that this is also the last edition of SNL before the start of the games. It actually feels like SNL is a little bit cagier these days when it comes to bringing in someone with little to no acting/performing experience, probably just because history dictates that, (for the most part) they don’t actually have a tendency to work all that well. More often that not these performances turn out to be clear misses and the idea just looked better on paper.
As for why SNL would want Portman to host, we don’t really think that it takes all that much effort to figure that out. She is one of the most accomplished performers out there and someone who knows and understands the series and its comedy. The biggest challenge for her is just that she is coming in as the fourth host in four weeks. Will some of the cast deliver? It’s very well possible that everyone is just going to be exhausted after so many weeks working. The hope here is that the idea of working with Portman is enough to get them excited.
This episode of SNL is airing one week after this weekend’s installment, which is hosted by none other than Will Ferrell. Obviously there is going to be a lot of enthusiasm around Farrell, mostly because of the fact that he is an alumni and there is such a rich tradition of great sketches with him on the show.
Related – Read our review for this past episode!
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