Willem Dafoe Makes ‘SNL’ Hosting Debut Alongside Returning Musical Guest Katy Perry

Live from New York, it’s Saturday night! Season 47 of Saturday Night Live is well underway, and show runner Lorne Michaels has yet to disappoint with his choice of show hosts and musical guests. This week, Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe, 66, makes his hosting debut at Studio 8H alongside returning musical guest Katy Perry, 37, on Saturday, January 29.

Owen Wilson, 52, opened the season musical guest Kacey Musgraves, 33, on Oct. 2. The Wedding Crashers star also made his hosting debut in season 47, chalking up the long wait to nerves. “I get really nervous with public speaking. I’ve never done any of those commencement addresses or Saturday Night Live just because I get too nervous,” he explained on a hike to friend Kevin Nealon in a YouTube video. Owen slayed it, and even had some help from his brothers Andrew, 57, and Luke, 50, during his opening monologue.

Learn more about this week’s show below.

Willem Dafoe Hosting ‘SNL’ For The 1st Time

Saturday Night Live welcomes Willem Dafoe for the show for the first time, hot off the success of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Willem is best known to a millennial audience from the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man series in the 2000s, where he brilliantly played Norman Osborn — a.k.a. villain the Green Goblin. Thanks to MCU’s introduction of the metaverse, Willem reprised the iconic role against Tom Holland‘s take on Spidey in Dec. 2021 — introducing a whole new generation to his version of the character.

Beyond his work in the Spider-Man world, Dafoe is a highly respected actor who has earned numerous awards and nods — including four Academy Award nominations. The Appleton, Wisconsin received his first in the Best Supporting Actor category for his role in Oliver Stone‘s Platoon back in 1986, followed by another in 2000 for Shadow of the Vampire. He was once again nominated in 2017 for The Florida Project, as well as for playing Vincent van Gogh in 2018’s At Eternity’s Gate. Dafoe got his acting start as a student at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee where he studied drama, landing his first role in 1979’s Heaven’s Gate alongside Jeff Bridges.

Willem Dafoe hosts with musical guest Katy Perry THIS SATURDAY pic.twitter.com/ejI0iljlId

— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) January 25, 2022

A week before his debut, Willem made a hilarious surprise cameo in Will Forte‘s opening monologue. It turns out Willem (per the joke in the monologue) and Will got their back-to-back dates confused. Show runner Lorne Michaels also popped up to help explain. “Wait…but Willem Dafoe? You’re hosting next week!” Will, 51, exclaimed, as Willem said he was “pretty sure” it was “this week.” Lorne then retorted, “You think I would book someone named Will, then someone name Willem?” and blamed autocorrect on his phone for the mix-up.

Article source: https://hollywoodlife.com/feature/whos-hosting-snl-tonight-4533370/