This week,Saturday Night Livewelcomed He Who Remains himself,Jonathan Majors, one of thebusiest new actorsworking today, to make his hosting debut along with musical guest andSNLvetTaylor Swift. Acting runs through Majors’ veins. After receiving his bachelor’s from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, theLovecraft Countrystar knew he wanted to continue his training at theYale School of Drama, specifically. In fact, he toldBackstage’sJack Smartduring an episode ofIn The Envelopepodcast that it wasn’t until his time at Yale that he started calling himself an actor. Things started to get clearer for him at the prestigious drama school, and he quickly realized that his acting courses were actually less “training” and more like it was “untaming” him from his individual habits. While he puts a tremendous amount of preparation into each role, he doesn’t tend to carry any of it with him from project to project. Instead, he sees each new character as a “tabula rasa” or blank slate. He explains, “You are acting, you are pretending,” and that, “You have to trust that gut reaction.”
There is certainly no one way to break into the entertainment industry. During his final semester at Yale, directorGus Van Sandtpicked him to playKen Jonesin the critically acclaimed mini-seriesWhen We Rise, which follows the gay rights movement in the United States. From there, he starred as Corporal Henry Woodson alongsideChristian Bale,Wes Studi, andBill CampinHostiles, and continued to deliver impressive performances in projects includingWhite Boy RickandThe Last Black Man in San Francisco, catching the eye ofSpike Leein the process. Majors nabbed the lead role of Atticus Freeman in HBO’s Emmy-winning (and sadly short-lived)Lovecraft Country, a fantasy-horror series fromJordan Peele,Misha Green, andJ.J. Abrams. 2020 was a big year for Majors, who, in addition toLovecraft Country, also starred inSpike Lee’sDa 5 Bloods. When reflecting on his experience filming in Vietnam, he explained how Lee “leads by example” and brings a level of confidence to set. “Spike Lee doesn’t ask for anything. He demands it.”
Majors definitely isn’t slowing down. He made his Marvel debut in the Disney+ seriesLoki, ushering in a new voice and omnipresent being into the MCU. He’s set to play the legendary Marvel Comics villain Kang the Conqueror in the upcoming movieAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Majors recentlysat down withColliderto discuss his latest project,The Harder They Fall, an epic western from directorJeymes Samuels, which is available on Netflix.Saturday Night Livewas a chance for Majors to show off his comedy chops. So, did heconquerhis hosting duties? (Sorry,hadto.) It was Majors like you’ve never seen him. He was smiling! Like, a lot! He’s had some pretty serious roles in the past, but hostingSNLgave him a chance to flash his pearly whites and show his upbeat attitude and sense of humor.
Let’s revisit some of the best moments from the November 13 episode ofSaturday Night Live. Live from New York, it’s Jonathan Majors!
RELATED:Jonathan Majors on ‘The Harder They Fall,’ Doing His Own Stunts, and How Much Marvel Told Him About Kang’s Role in the MCU
5. Strange Kid Tales
Ever hear those stories about a kid who has a weird connection to a ghost or some other form of supernatural phenomenon? Out of nowhere, a little boy will start talking about how in a past life, he served in the military? (You know,normalthings.) Well, the SYFY showStrange Kid Talesis dedicated to bizarre ghost encounters that children have had. These stories aresofreaky, that even the two talk show hosts (Kenan Thompsonand Majors) can’t handle hearing about them.
4. Audacity in Advertising Awards
Are you ever watching a commercial that seems more like a way-too-dramatic short film and less like a real commercial? There will be a heartfelt moment between a father and son and then out of nowhere, an Amazon or Facebook (ahem, Meta) logo gets slapped on the screen? If you think this is jarring, you’re not alone. In fact, now there’s an award show specifically for celebrating these commercials that are advertising for a product that doesn’t match the commercial’s content at all. This year, the Audacity in Advertising Awards are hosted by two legends in the commercial world: Jake from State Farm (Majors) and Flo from Progressive (Heidi Gardner). Theaudacity!
3. Broadway Benefit
Broadway! It’s back! One of the many things the pandemic hit (aside from the entire world) was Broadway. Performers, artists, and crew members struggled to make ends meet as their work disappeared. As places slowly but surely open back up and people start returning to the theater, Broadway is able to get back on its feet. To help out the theater community, Broadway is putting on a special benefit show. One mother (Aidy Bryant) is extra excited because it’s the same show she saw with her parents when she was young, and now she is bringing her young daughter to experience it for the first time. But seeing it as an adult, the show isn’tquitehow the woman remembered it.
2. Cold Open: Ted Cruz Sesame Street
This week’s Cold Open was aSesame Streetparody with a political spin. This parody sketch features SenatorTed Cruz(Bryant), who, after arguing with Big Bird on Twitter, now hosts a Newsmax Kids original seriesCruz Street, where he teaches little ones about what he deems most important and factual. Here to help him out are US RepresentativeMarjorie Taylor Greene(Cecily Strong) and podcast hostJoe Rogen(Pete Davidson), two outspoken individuals who share their thoughts on Covid and guns. Even the kids (Andrew Dismukes, Bowen Yang, andMelissaVillaseñoraren’t buying what Cruz is selling.
If you follow the news, or exist, you probably know a little bit aboutSNLcast member Pete Davidson’s ever-changing and star-studdedlove life. In the past few years,The King of Staten Islandstar has been linked to celebrities includingAriana Grande,Kate Beckinsale,Phoebe Dynevor, andKaia Gerber. In another one of their pre-recorded sketches, newSNLwritersBen Marshall,John Higgins, andMartin Herlihy, a comedy group known as Please Don’t Destroy, get a visit from Pete, the cool guy in the office, who wants to bond with the newbies. How about a music video? This seems like agreatidea. But, things take a sad turn when the boys hear what the song is about. It also doesn’t help the situation that Swift stops by to echo what Pete has to say.
Check out Majors in the thrilling new Netflix westernThe Harder They Falland the upcoming Ant-Man sequelAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.SNLcontinues the Marvel theme next week with Shang-Chi himself,Simu Liuand musical guestSaweetie.
