Charlize Theron is the Ultimate Cat Lady on ‘SNL’
Charlize Theron showed off her range and demonstrated once again that she’s not afraid to get frumpy as host of last night’s Saturday Night Live. It was the actress’ second time hosting the show and her first since 2000: “I had so much fun I waited 14 years to come back,” she joked during her monologue. After an introductory song-and-dance number that illustrated Theron’s tragic inability to carry a tune, the actress threw herself into a variety of unglamorous and unsettling roles.
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This week’s game show installment was “Come Do a Game Show With Your Mom. It’ll Be Fun. Yes It Will.” The sweetly holiday-appropriate set-up had Kate McKinnon hosting a show where her three children (including Theron) served as contestants to prove how well they know their mom. Rounds included “Who’s that gal I like?” “Who in Hollywood do I think is gay?” and “What’s the worst thing that happened to me all year?”
As a charismatic second banana to motivational speaker Heshy (Nasim Pedrad), Theron donned an Americans-style wig and glasses as she helped encourage single women to find love with some truly impressive hip-thrust choreography and sound effects.
Theron must have realized the look really worked for her, since she went with a similar style for “Whiskers R We,” advertising a pet rescue alongside fellow cat lady Kate McKinnon. The two toss off a bunch of great and disturbing lines (“Damien is a feline sociopath. It’s not that he’s evil. He lacks empathy and he goes into a dissociative state and commits atrocities.”) as they introduce the cats, but it’s the parade of adorable live kittens that makes the sketch something you might like to watch over and over again.
The host went deeper undercover in a fat suit for “Tourists,” a beautiful and understated digital short that explores the oddball mores of a handful of the 50 million tourists that visit New York every year. McKinnon (once again) is particularly great as a German anarchist, while Theron’s Italian voyager confuses the locals by turning the usual camera interaction on its head.
Saturday Night Live returns next week for its season finale, hosted by Andy Samberg with musical guest St. Vincent.