|
| |
Back to Saturday Night Live page
| Air Date: |
March 16, 2002 |
| Host: |
Ian McKellen |
| Musical Guest: |
Kylie Minogue |
| Special Guests: |
None |
 |
|
.....Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen: Thank you, thank you very much indeed!
Well, here we all are. And here I am hosting "Saturday
Night Live". Why, you might ask. And all through these
rehearsals, I've been asking myself the same thing, actually.
You know, A classical actor, used to doing Stremberg and Chekhov
and Shakespeare - plays that have been around for centuries -
and here I am performing work that's only been around since
yesterday afternoon. Now, honestly, they're still writing some
of the scripts right now! I guess so it's not too obvious.
People are always telling me I should do more comedy. Well, this
show will show them - they'll never ask that again! To think I
could be sunning myself in Los Angeles waiting for the Oscars;
or be at home in London seeing my 95-year old stepmother, who I
don't get to see often enough; or I could be on holiday with my
boyfriend in New Zealand, there's a thought. But, now, I'm here.
Here in New York doing "Saturday Night Live".
Basically, it's just vanity, I suppose. But I love this
troupe of players, this company, the regulars on "Saturday
Night Live". Especially that Jimmy Fallon, isn't he cute!
most hosts get around to thanking the cast at the end of the
show, I think it's worth thanking them right now, because
I need them on my side.
I'm not sure they realize they're part of a very old theater
tradition - it's called Review. Did you know Maggie Smith - Dame
Maggie - started off in review when she was a kid. She's still
brilliant at one-liners - if you've seen her in "Gosford
Park", you know what I mean. And when Maggie and I were
starting out, she dragged my hero, Laurence Olivier, to come and
see me act in London. And subsequently put me into his national
theater company, along with a young actor called Anthony
Hopkins. And who would have thought that after all those years
in the classics, Dame Maggie would end up being best known as
the Harry Potter Lady, Tony Hopkins best known for eating
people's faces, and they'd make me into an action figure! I love
my action figures, I play with them all day long.
Anyway! It's really, really fun and great to be here, I feel
really welcomed. Unlike the St. Patrick's Day parade in New York
City, where they don't exactly encourage openly gay men. They
don't seem to mind the priests, though, do they? Hey, look,
forget the parade, we've got a great show, and I'm gonna
have a ball, and so are you, because my fave disco diva is here
- Kylie Minogue! So stick around, and we'll be right back!
|
|
|
