Jesse Eisenberg may have achieved success as both an actor and director,
but his 2011 experience as a host on Saturday Night Live (SNL) is something he still cringes about.
The A Real Pain star, 41, recently opened up about his misstep ahead of his hosting gig,
admitting that his excitement and enthusiasm led him to unintentionally break the show’s unwritten rules.
During a candid conversation on Today with Jenna & Friends on Monday, Eisenberg was asked to recall his experience hosting SNL.
While he initially joked that his episode was considered the best in the show’s history, he quickly shifted to a more self-deprecating tone, revealing how he unknowingly overstepped his bounds.
Eisenberg’s “Unbelievably Inappropriate” Approach to SNL
Eisenberg explained that long before he became a household name, his dream had been to work as a writer for Saturday Night Live. At 17, he had even put together a submission packet in the hopes of landing a writing gig. Fast forward ten years, and he found himself not behind the scenes but on the iconic Studio 8H stage as a host. However, in his excitement, Eisenberg made a major blunder—he assumed he could write his own sketches.
“I didn’t know how it worked,” he admitted. “It turns out, they have writers.”
Eager to contribute, Eisenberg spent the week slipping scripts to different cast members, hoping to get his ideas into the final lineup. It wasn’t until later that he realized how inappropriate his actions were.
“I didn’t realize—I’m an idiot,” he said. “I’ve wanted to write my whole life, so I just started writing and passing things around. I didn’t realize that was not the way you do that.”
Did Any of Eisenberg’s Sketches Make It to Air?
Jenna Bush Hager, who was hosting the segment, asked Eisenberg if any of his sketches had actually made it into the show. Without hesitation, he confirmed that none of them had—and he had only himself to blame.
“It was so unbelievably inappropriate and offensive of me that, no,” Eisenberg confessed.
Fellow guest Amy Poehler, a former SNL cast member from 2001 to 2008, chimed in with some reassurance. “You kind of worked too hard,” she said. “Which is not… you know, if you’re going to go one way, it’s better to go that way than the other way.”
Eisenberg, still reflecting on his mistake, responded with a laugh, “Not according to the people who wrote the show! They wished I went the other way.”
Eisenberg on Distancing Himself from Mark Zuckerberg
Beyond his reflections on SNL, Eisenberg also recently addressed another topic he has long been associated with—his portrayal of Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network.
During an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today program, Eisenberg was asked about his thoughts on Zuckerberg today. He made it clear that he doesn’t follow Zuckerberg’s trajectory and prefers not to be linked to the billionaire tech mogul.
“I don’t want to think of myself as associated with somebody like that,” Eisenberg stated.
He elaborated that the association is not the same as playing a celebrated athlete. “It’s not like I played a great golfer, and now people think I’m a great golfer. It’s, like, this guy who is doing things that are problematic—taking away fact-checking and [the] safety concerns, making people who are already threatened in the world more threatened.”
A Lesson in Live Television
Despite the mishap, Eisenberg’s SNL hosting gig remains a memorable chapter in his career. His self-admitted mistake serves as a lighthearted reminder that even accomplished actors can misread the rules when stepping into unfamiliar territory.
As Eisenberg continues his career as both an actor and director, it’s clear that his passion for writing has never faded. However, when it comes to Saturday Night Live, he’s learned one important lesson—leave the sketch writing to the professionals.
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