Oscar Isaac hosted SNL for the first time on Mar. 5, and brought his signature smolder to hilarious characters.
Welcome to Saturday Night Live, Oscar Isaac! The first-time host and Moon Knight star held nothing back as he took the stage at 30 Rockefeller Plaza for his rookie performance. The star embodied a wide variety of hilarious characters throughout the night, from a town mayor angry with the Paw Patrol to a sexualized version of himself dreamed up by Aidy Bryant.
After a rousing political cold-open, Oscar took the stage for his opening monologue, where he shared sweet footage of himself acting out a superhero movie at age 10. Hilariously at one point, Oscar’s childhood friends Dad appears in the background, relaxedly cleaning the pool, as Oscar wields a false sword and shows off his form.
As the night continued it was clear Oscar wasn’t going to hold anything back, as he brought his all to a wide variety of characters. From a deformed sentient skin tag that harmonizes with Charli XCX to a shy, bookish janitor who loves writing Dua Lipa fan fiction, Oscar held his own with the comedic cast as a first-time host.
Oscar’s first visit to the SNL stage as host comes ahead of another exciting debut: his addition to the pantheon of Marvel superheroes. Marvel’s new miniseries Moon Knight is set to premiere on Mar. 30, with Oscar starring as the titular vigilante. An exciting first trailer for the show aired during Super Bowl LVI on Feb. 13, showing Oscar’s superhero go head to head with a villainous Ethan Hawke. The series will be streaming on Disney+.
Oscar is also coming off his star turn in HBO’s dramatic miniseries Scenes from a Marriage, where he stars opposite Jessica Chastain. In the heartwrenching adaptation of the classic Swedish film, Oscar and Jessica portray a married couple over the years, as they face all the complicated facets love and matrimony have to offer. The show has garnered acclaim for both actors’ performances, and Oscar even received a Golden Globe Nomination for Best Actor for his work.
Also receiving critical acclaim? Oscar and Jessica’s intense chemistry in the show, which even extended to red-carpet PDA. Though both Oscar and Jessica are married to other people, fans went wild for the duo. But Jessica dispelled rumors in an interview, calling their cuddly behavior “acting” and emphasizing her and Oscar’s close history…as friends. “Oscar and I have been friends — we went to college together — so we’ve been friends more than half of our lives,” she shared.