Meryl Streep Breaks Character During “SNL” Debut in Hilarious 'Close Encounter' Sketch with Kate McKinnon

The Oscar-winning actress made her 'Saturday Night Live' debut during the sketch comedy show's 50th anniversary special on Sunday, Feb. 16

nbc			 Meryl Streep on 'SNL50: The Anniversary Special' on Feb. 16, 2025 in New York City

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Meryl Streep on 'SNL50: The Anniversary Special' on Feb. 16, 2025 in New York City

Even some of the industry’s best can’t keep it together when it comes to partaking in Saturday Night Live’s hilarious sketches.

Meryl Streep made her SNL debut during SNL50: The Anniversary Special on Sunday, Feb. 16, in a sketch featuring Jon Hamm as a Space Force officer and Aidy Bryant as a doctor evaluating the alien abduction experienced by a trio of friends played by Woody Harrelson, Kate McKinnon and Pedro Pascal. The gag is part of a recurring sketch in which Bryant, 37, and McKinnon, 41, have previously appeared.

Related: Meryl Streep Gives the Middle Finger on Camera During Hilarious Moment with Martin Short at SNL Concert Event

Streep, 75, played McKinnon’s mom, Colleen Rafferty Sr., and she entered the scene wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a short gray wig, smoking a cigarette.

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“Sorry, my bathroom break took longer than I thought,” Streep said, clearly trying to keep a straight face. “My No.1 turned into a No. 3.”

Streep claimed to have been abducted by the same aliens as her daughter and her friends.

“Us Rafferty girls, we always attracting the freaks,” the Devil Wears Prada star said. “For years I thought Colleen’s father was part alien, but turns out he was just uncircumcised.”

Sebastien Nogier - Pool/Getty Meryl Streep attends a Rendez-vous with Meryl Streep at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 15, 2024 in Cannes, France

Sebastien Nogier - Pool/Getty

Meryl Streep attends a Rendez-vous with Meryl Streep at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 15, 2024 in Cannes, France

Earlier in the sketch, McKinnon went into detail explaining her unkempt pubic hair situation. According to Streep, that gene ran in the family.

“Much like her, I got an Into the Woods sort of situation,” Streep said through stifled giggles, a reference to the 2014 musical film in which she played Witch. “My ex used to say that it was like trying to hack his way through the Black Forest.”

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Streep continued to smile through her lines, and when the foursome explained how they exited the aliens’ spaceship, the Oscar-winning actress shared that she lost her pants in the process.

“My pants got snagged on a piece of metal, so they’re gone,” Streep said. “And then as for underwear, underwear-wise, this devil wears nada.”

John Nacion/Variety via Getty Meryl Streep at 'SNL50: The Anniversary Special' on Feb. 16, 2025 in New York City

John Nacion/Variety via Getty

Meryl Streep at 'SNL50: The Anniversary Special' on Feb. 16, 2025 in New York City

Streep completely lost it while explaining that she and her daughter landed on top of Phil McDermott on their way back to land.

When Bryant asked who Phil was, Streep cracked up while saying, “He’s a gentleman whose family I bet wished they went with the closed casket funeral.”

This marks Streep’s first-ever appearance on Saturday Night Live. It comes amid her rumored romance with Martin Short, a former cast member who also attended the anniversary special on Feb. 16.

Todd Williamson/CBS via Getty  Meryl Streep and Martin Short at the 81st annual Golden Globe Awards in L.A. on Jan. 7, 2024

Todd Williamson/CBS via Getty

Meryl Streep and Martin Short at the 81st annual Golden Globe Awards in L.A. on Jan. 7, 2024

Related: See All the Stars Arriving at the SNL 50th Anniversary Special

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Two days earlier, Streep and Short, 74, attended SNL50: The Homecoming Concert  in New York City.

“I think Marty might be off the market. That's what I'm seeing. I don't know," Amy Schumer, who sat near Short and Streep at the concert, told PEOPLE ahead of the Feb. 16 special. "Maybe by just like the greatest actor of our time, I don't know."

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SNL50: The Anniversary Special airs Sunday, Feb. 16, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.

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