Russell Crowe may have an Oscar, but he's never hosted Saturday Night Live — until now. The actor doesn’t often make the news for his sense of humor; it’s more often for throwing a punch or a phone. Even so, Crowe does star with Ryan Gosling in the upcoming '70s detective comedy, The Nice Guys, so it’s not like he can’t do comedy. He also seems to have that famous Aussie "give-it-a-go" spirit, and that's a bonus for a show like SNL.
Did the Gladiator star get a thumbs up for his first time? Here are three moments worth talking about from this week’s Saturday Night Live:
1. Hillary Clinton: Kate McKinnon has this Clinton thing down, and lucky for her, Clinton keeps the material coming. This week, McKinnon parodied Clinton’s campaigning in her adopted home state of New York. She puts on a Yankees’ cap, almost. Then she eats a street hot dog, almost. She takes Clinton’s ill-fated subway ride from earlier in the week, where Clinton couldn’t quite get her Metro Card to swipe. It took real-life Hillary Clinton five tries. McKinnon’s Clinton, however, never quite figures it out. In the end, McKinnon turns the baseball cap to reveal a Mets logo on the other side. Her Clinton is trying hard to cover all the bases.
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2. Opening Monologue: Crowe took his serious reputation head-on in the opening monologue. He quipped about his long career in comedy, showing clips from Gladiator, where he killed a co-star. “Two swords! I just needed one!” he says, laughing. Then, he made a Beautiful Mind joke, saying he wanted it to be called The Nutty Professor. He even gently made fun of himself and his turn at musical theater in Les Misérables. The best bits came when he spoke of his co-star Gosling, who he called “a beautiful young woman named Ryan Gosling.” He claimed Gosling’s experience hosting SNL earlier this year inspired him: “Wow. Anyone can do that!” Too bad these were Crowe's best jokes. They came early and not so often.
3. Weekend Update — O.J. Recap: Kate McKinnon brings it again with her TV recap of The People vs. O.J. Simpson as her recurring character, Somebody’s Mom Named Deenie. She eats Brussels sprouts and imitation crab while cracking up Colin Jost. When she finally gets around to doing her recap, she doesn’t get anyone’s name exactly right: “Then, Show Me The Money tried on the glove that shrunk,” and, “Curly Hair got mad at Black Mr. Clean,” she says. She calls David Schwimmer’s Robert Kardashian the “skunk-haired one from Friends,” who she thinks is yelling about the Jews. “That’s Juice,” Jost corrects her. Her best line? “I figured out who did in the first five minutes!” Proving again that Kate McKinnon stands out on SNL no matter what is thrown her way.