Yahoo Lifestyle Jesse Eisenberg Has ‘Bad Memories’ of Hosting ‘SNL’ Because ‘I Assumed I Could Write All the Sketches’: ‘Unbelievably Offensive of Me’
Jesse Eisenberg said during an interview on “Today with Jenna & Friends” (via People) that he only has “bad memories” of hosting “Saturday Night Live” in January 2011. The Oscar nominee made the grave mistake of thinking being “SNL” host meant he’d be pitching and writing all of the sketches for his episode.
“I only have bad memories because I did such a dumb thing,” Eisenberg said. “My dream when I was 17 was to write for ‘SNL.’ I made a packet and everything and I got an agent. And then, when I got asked to host, which was 10 years later, I assumed I could write all the sketches. I didn’t know how it works. It turns out, they have writers.”
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“I didn’t realize — I’m an idiot — and I was also just wanting to write,” he continued. “I’ve wanted to write my whole life. So I spent the week slipping scripts to different actors. I didn’t realize that was not the way you do that.”
Did any of Eisenberg’s sketches make it onto his “SNL” episode? “It was so unbelievably inappropriate and offensive of me that, no,” he said, adding that he was once “told by somebody” that he’d be able to write sketches as host.
“It turns out I was sabotaged,” Eisenberg quipped. “I was assured, ‘Yes, of course. That sounds great,’ they said.”
Eisenberg is currently an Oscar-nominated writer thanks to his directorial effort “A Real Pain,” which earned him a best original screenplay nomination. His co-star Kieran Culkin is an Oscar nominee for best supporting actor.
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