Josh O'Connor took to the stage of Saturday Night Live on Saturday to dispel rumors surrounding his potential starring role in a live-action adaptation of Ratatouille. The actor, known for his roles in The Crown, Challengers, and Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, began his monologue by painting himself as a "soft boy" with a "reputation" for trying to live a quiet life.
However, O'Connor warned the audience that words have consequences, as his admiration for the Disney-Pixar film had led to false rumors that he was set to star in the project. "Like one time, I said that one of my favorite movies is Ratatouille, which is true, it's a great film," he said with a smile. "But I suppose fans started pitching me as Chef Linguini for a live-action Ratatouille remake. And I'm not very online, so I didn't know that this was a thing until the president of Disney-Pixar publicly declared that there will never be a live-action Ratatouille remake, no matter how much Josh O'Connor wants it."
He joked about being "publicly rejected from a job I didn't even want" and clarified that he didn't "even want a live-action Ratatouille, I don't have the time for it." But he couldn't resist hinting at his interest in the role, suggesting Jeff Goldblum as his pick for the food critic Anton Ego. "I'm already in the new Knives Out film—saying it out loud sounds like the perfect name for the live-action Ratatouille—but that's neither here nor there," O'Connor said. "I'm at SNL and I'm so honored. The cast, the crew, and—sorry, sorry, for what it's worth, I would kill as Linguini."
Earlier in the night, the cold open featured an exhausted Trump portrayed by James Austin Johnson, addressing a myriad of newsy topics including the Warner Bros. Discovery merger and recently released Epstein photos. When asked about the Epstein photos, Johnson's Trump said, "Look, the fact is these photos are a fake news Democrat hoax." But when asked about a particular photo of a bowl of condoms with his face on it and the text "I'm huge," he responded, "They're 100 percent legit. I love those files. I'm in the files, I took a lot of great pictures."
O'Connor had a breakout moment when he starred in Netflix's The Crown as Prince Charles, earning him an Emmy for best lead actor. He has since gone on to star in projects such as Luca Guadagnino's Challengers and The Mastermind (2025), as well as Knives Out. Saturday night marked O'Connor's SNL hosting debut, while it was Lily Allen's second time serving as a musical guest. Allen was joined by Dakota Johnson during her second performance of the night, where she sang her track "Madeline" from her latest album West End Girl. Johnson joined her on SNL to loosely play Madeline during the performance, where she spoke some of the lyrics back to Allen.
After this week's show, there is one more episode of 2025 left, where Wicked: For Good star Ariana Grande will host and Cher will join as musical guest, her first appearance on the sketch comedy show since 1987. Season 51 has already aired seven episodes, with Bad Bunny, Amy Poehler, Sabrina Carpenter, Miles Teller, Nikki Glaser
