10 former ‘Saturday Night Live’ stars who returned as hosts
A comedy institution since 1975, Saturday Night Live has continued to poke fun at the world’s goings-on for almost half a century, repeatedly proving its credentials as a star-making factory along the way.
Even the people who flunk their auditions have a habit of becoming stars eventually, with Jim Carrey, Jennifer Coolidge, Stephen Colbert, Geena Davis, Donald Glover, John Goodman, Andy Kaufman, Kevin Hart, Adam McKay, Jordan Peele, and Aubrey Plaza all doing just fine for themselves after being rejected as a cast member.
The SNL cast continues to be a never-ending production line of comedy greats and powerhouse performers alike, and many of them have never forgotten where they came from. The show has made a habit of roping in the biggest stars on the planet for guest hosting duties, with former alumni becoming a regular part of the process.
There are countless ex-SNL stars who’ve ended up returning to their old stomping grounds, but based on what they achieved afterwards and how where they stand in terms of the sketch classic’s legacy, the following ten are among the most memorable.
10 former SNL stars who returned to host:
10. Robert Downey Jr
He may have only lasted one season on SNL between 1985 and 1986, but there was always a distinct possibility Robert Downey Jr would be invited back to host the show when he achieved silver screen stardom after his short and ill-fated stint as a cast member.
However, it comes as something of a surprise that not only has he only hosted once, but it came all the way back in 1996. Of course, the actor’s career would endure a rollercoaster’s worth of ups and downs in the years to come, but he’s been one of Hollywood’s biggest names since Iron Man breathed new life into his career.
Having become the first SNL cast member to win an Academy Award for acting thanks to Oppenheimer, though, maybe he’ll be invited back for a second time to revel in his history-making accomplishment.
9. Kate McKinnon
One of SNL‘s most beloved veterans, Kate McKinnon is the longest-tenured female performer in the show’s history after notching up 211 episodes as a cast member during her ten-year stint.
After leaving in 2022, the series didn’t wait too long before drafting her in for hosting duties, with McKinnon debuting on the other side of the proceedings in December 2023, where she freely admitted it was a strange and almost out-of-body experience.
Acknowledging how it was “so weird to be doing the monologue,” McKinnon wasn’t used to appearing on SNL as herself and using her natural speaking voice because embodying characters in sketches was “kind of why I got into this racket in the first place.”
8. Shane Gillis
The story of Shane Gillis and SNL is a strange one because even though he was hired and announced as a featured cast member in September 2019, he didn’t get to display his comedy talents in so much as a single episode.
The very same day he was revealed as a new name on the repertory, audio clips from a podcast that featured him making racist jokes began recirculating and going viral online. He issued an apology, but the damage had already been done, with Lorne Michaels confirming four days later that he’d been removed from the ensemble.
Nonetheless, his career continued to rise to a point where SNL ended up extending an olive branch and inviting him to host, with Gillis sensibly opting not to avoid the elephant in the room and address the controversy head-on during his opening monologue.
7. Bill Murray
One of SNL‘s most famous sons, Bill Murray became a comedy superstar in the years following his exit from the sketch show in 1980 before becoming a member of an esteemed and illustrious group of hosts in the years to come.
There are only 25 people who currently comprise the ‘Five-Timers Club’ of SNL guest hosts, and Murray wasn’t even one of the first to be granted entry despite notching a quintet of appearances as compère between 1981 and 1999.
He was the 11th person to be welcomed into the exclusive group, but as of yet, he hasn’t been welcomed into another 11-strong club of those to have fronted SNL six times or more.
6. Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Louis-Dreyfus began her career on SNL after notching 57 episodes on her belt between 1982 and 1985, but when she returned to host, she was renowned as one of the most gifted comedic performers of her generation after winning a Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy for her work on Seinfeld.
She also made history by becoming the first former female cast member to host the show when she debuted on the other side of the equation in 2006, more than 20 years after she departed the long-running comedy staple.
Louis-Dreyfus has gone on to host another two times in 2007 and 2016, with SNL serving as the initial springboard towards a long and massively successful career that’s spanned over 40 years in total.
5. Adam Sandler
Even though he spent half a decade on SNL between 1990 and 1995, Adam Sandler was fired from the show because executives at network NBC didn’t like him very much, which may help explain why it took him so long to host.
In terms of nothing but box office dollars, Sandler is undoubtedly one of the comedy favourite’s most successful alumni after founding Happy Madison Productions and steering it to billions upon billions in ticket sales with his signature brand of comedy, becoming a massively popular star in his own right.
However, it was almost a quarter of a century before he was offered the opportunity to host in 2019, having previously been adamant that he would never do it. So far, though, it’s remained a strictly one-time thing.
4. Kristen Wiig
The most recent addition to the ‘Five-Timers Club’, actor Kristen Wiig was elevated into rarefied air when she fronted SNL for a fifth time in April 2024, 11 years after she debuted as the latest former cast member to kick things off with the signature monologue.
Before that, she’d been a staple of the series for seven years and 135 episodes, where she received four Primetime Emmy nominations for ‘Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series’, proving herself to be one of the show’s most talented female performers ever.
Big screen success soon beckoned, but Wiig hosted for the first time just a year after seeking pastures new, and she’s kept her dance card full ever since by writing and acting in movies including Bridesmaids, Date Night, Christopher Nolan’s guilty pleasure MacGruber, and many more besides.
3. Will Ferrell
Another famed SNL star who went down in the history books as one of its biggest success stories, Will Ferrell first gained mainstream attention during his seven-year stint on the show between 1995 and 2002.
The next year, he became one of Hollywood comedy’s most in-demand stars after headlining Christmastime classic Elf before embarking on a lucrative run of critical and commercial hits that elevated him to a position of being one of the most popular comedic performers in the entire industry.
He’s never forgotten his roots, though, with Ferrell another former SNL favourite who joined the ‘Five-Timers Club’, even if it took him almost a decade and a half to get there between his 2004 debut and his fifth – and so far final – hosting gig in 2019.
2. Dana Carvey
Dana Carvey earned five consecutive Primetime Emmy nominations for ‘Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program’ during the peak of his SNL days, although he seems to have fallen slightly out of favour with the powers that be.
He won the aforementioned Emmy in 1993 in what proved to be his final year on the show, returned the following year for his first time hosting, and was brought back again in 1996, 2000, and 2011, but it’s fast closing in on a decade and a half since he’s fronted the series that turned him into a household name.
Of course, having withdrawn largely from the spotlight to focus his attentions firmly on family and not his career, Carvey has hardly been prolific in recent times. Still, he’s tantalisingly close to becoming a member of the ‘Five-Timers Club’ and has been for a long time, but he may yet end up with membership.
1. Tina Fey
It wasn’t until three years after she was first hired as a writer on SNL that Tina Fey even began performing in sketches, but over the course of the next six years, she ended up becoming one of the show’s leading lights and most popular figures.
She won three Emmys for her writing and performing skills, and even after her departure, she ended up setting a record by hosting SNL more times than any other female former cast member, having racked up six appearances so far.
That puts her second on the all-time list behind only eight-time host Chevy Chase, too, and it’s hardly impossible to imagine her snatching that crown away, considering Chase is persona non grata around a lot of parts these days, even if she hasn’t been on hosting duties since 2018.
