Who Is SNL’s Host Tonight? 10/5/2019

Getty Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Phoebe Waller-Bridge is hosting tonight’s episode of Saturday Night Live. The actress, playwright and comedienne is best known for shows like Fleabag and Killing Eve, and tonight she will make her debut on the SNL stage. Read on to learn more about Waller-Bridge’s SNL stint and how she feels about hosting.

Waller-Bridge recently won three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress In a Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, and Outstanding Comedy Series. During her SNL promo, she struggles to rehearse sketches while holding on to all three of her Emmys. “I am so excited and I am up for anything. I can do characters, I can do silly voices…” she tells the cast members, while clinging to the statuettes. “…I’m really happy to do political stuff.”

Phoebe Waller-Bridge Will Be Making Her ‘SNL’ Debut Tonight

During a recent appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Waller-Bridge talked about her SNL gig and what her expectations were beforehand. She told Meyers that she did realize it was such a grueling shoot, and that it never aired where she was growing up in the U.K. “We just thought it was a sketch show that you have time to prepare for,” she said jokingly.

Waller-Bridge will have a writing credit on the upcoming James Bond film No Time to Die. She talked to Deadline about the film, and how it will update the 007 character for modern times. “There’s been a lot of talk about whether or not [the Bond franchise] is relevant now because of who he is and the way he treats women,” she explained. “I think that’s bollocks. I think he’s absolutely relevant now. It has just got to grow. It has just got to evolve, and the important thing is that the film treats the women properly. He doesn’t have to. He needs to be true to this character.”

Waller-Bridge Will Be Joining Returning Musical Guest Taylor Swift

Waller-Bridge praised current Bond star Daniel Craig, and said that she is interested in the psychology he brings to the character. “When I saw his Bond for the first time, there was a wryness to his performance that I really loved,” she recalled. “So, I was really excited about writing dialogue for him.” Then she adds, “I mean, the script was there. It’s already there. I think it’s unfair to say that I’m writing the script… He’s trying to protect the country’s security, so fair enough. But that kind of tipping edge of psychology is really interesting to me. Someone who can kill, and then also be charming. There’s a front that appeals to me. But the wit of it is the thing that I love the most about that franchise. It’s the wit.”

Taylor Swift will be tonight’s musical guest. Swift has appeared as a musical guest twice before, in 2009 and 2017, and she also served as the host during a separate 2009 episode. She is set to perform the singles off her recent album, Lover. During the promo for tonight’s episode, Swift struggles with some British slang before asking Waller-Bridge if she wrote the script.