Reunited and it feels so good! As Aubrey Plaza hosted Saturday Evening Reside for the primary time, she had a VIP visitor assist present her the ropes: Amy Poehler.
“On each tour individuals would ask the identical query, ‘Are we going to see a star?’” Plaza, 38, quipped on Saturday, January 21, whereas recalling her recollections within the NBC Web page program, the place she would present vacationers across the community constructing. “No, you’re going to see an outdated safety man consuming a sandwich or a author crying as a result of a sketch bought reduce.’ Well-known individuals don’t simply —!”
Aubrey Plaza and Amy Poehler on ‘Saturday Evening Reside.’ Will Heath/NBC
Because the Little Hours actress walked by way of the 30 Rock set — in a Web page blazer — she almost bumped into Poehler, 51. “Hello, Aubrey,” the Child Mama actress exclaimed, giving her former Parks and Recreation costar a hug. “Oh my God, take a look at you!”
Poehler added: “So, Aubrey, I see that you just’re carrying your Web page jacket. Are you consuming once more? … Aubrey, it’s not good to name individuals outdated!”
The White Lotus star — who helmed the primary SNL episode of 2023, alongside musical visitor Sam Smith — was even in a position to persuade Poehler to affix her for a sketch. The 2 girls, who performed Leslie Knope and April Ludgate on Parks and Rec, respectively, later reprised their sitcom roles throughout a “Weekend Replace” section.
Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope and Aubrey Plaza as April Ludgate throughout Weekend Replace on ‘Saturday Evening Reside.’ Will Heath/NBC
“Native governments are having hassle hiring new staff, right here to encourage younger individuals to get entangled in native authorities is a longtime worker of town of Pawnee, Indiana,” SNL star Colin Jost stated, introducing their two characters to the “Replace” desk.
Plaza, for her half, wore April’s signature hoodie and a wig together with her signature fringe bangs. “All people ought to get entangled the place they stay, in the event you’re younger you must get a job as a rubbish man or one thing,” she advised Jost, 40, together with her trademark deadpan, earlier than itemizing different jobs the place individuals might do the “naked minimal” and nonetheless “do your half.”
Whereas Plaza was “irritated” to reply the New York native’s questions, she directed additional inquiries to her “outdated boss” Leslie Knope (Poehler).
“Take a look at this! Who knew there have been cameras at SNL!” Poehler — who used to helm “Weekend Replace” alongside Seth Meyers — joked in character. “So, how a lot enjoyable is it working right here? … I need to decide your mind about this job, about this present as a result of I used to observe this when Seth Meyers did it by himself with nobody else and he made it look very easy.”
The Sisters star even swapped locations with Jost to “attempt” and skim off one in all his subsequent jokes, nevertheless, she had difficulties discovering one which wasn’t “too imply.”
Plaza’s Saturday look marked her SNL internet hosting debut — which additionally included a spoof of The White Lotus — that she referred to as a “dream come true” in her monologue.
Saturday wasn’t the Golden Globe nominee’s first time on the 30 Rock stage. Plaza as soon as bombed an early audition to affix the forged of ensemble gamers.
Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, Aubrey Plaza as April Ludgate, anchor Colin Jost, and anchor Michael Che throughout Weekend Replace on ‘Saturday Evening Reside.’ Will Heath/NBC
“I didn’t make it to the Lorne [Michaels] audition, the well-known remaining audition, however I did a preliminary first-round showcase,” the Delaware native recalled throughout a Tuesday, January 17, look on The Tonight Present Starring Jimmy Fallon. “I bear in mind one character I did was like a Puerto Rican information reporter that was all the time attempting to make all the information tales horny, even when they had been horrific information tales. I used to be simply attempting to love, intercourse up the information or one thing.”
Plaza additionally hoped her “pill-popping housewife” character could be successful with the present executives — to no avail. Whereas neither of the Ingrid Goes West star’s characters propelled her sufficient to land a coveted forged member gig, she did earn an internship within the design division in 2004.
“They cherished me as a result of I didn’t care about set design in any respect, and so they wished an intern that had little interest in studying what they did,” she recalled to Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday, noting she steadily spent her time “lurking within the shadows” across the forged. “I used to be simply, like, creepy. Like, I used to be a creepy stalker. Now I’m gonna host it, so my grasp plan labored!”
Whereas the Emily the Legal star — who quietly married Jeff Baena in Could 2021 — could not have gotten to affix SNL as a forged member, she finally landed the function of April on Parks and Rec, which aired on NBC. The present in the end wrapped in 2015, and the actress went on to e book a gentle stream of comedic movies. She later returned to TV final 12 months, touchdown the function of Harper on HBO Max’s The White Lotus.
“It was unimaginable. We had been taking pictures in Sicily for 4 months, residing in a luxurious lodge and staying on this attractive city,” Plaza gushed to Deadline in November 2022 of becoming a member of Mike White’s anthology sequence. “You stroll exterior and take a look at the ocean from these cliffs. It’s breathtaking. And also you’ve bought the backdrop of Mt. Etna volcano that may erupt at any second. Rattling, that simply form of infuses the entire scene with this wild power.”
Saturday Evening Reside airs on NBC Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET.
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