Foo Fighters are booked as musical guest on this weekend’s SNL UK, but fans didn’t have to wait for the band’s live performance to air for their first Dave Grohl spotting of the night.
For Bridgerton and Derry Girls star Nicola Coughlan’s turn hosting Saturday night’s (April 25) episode of the original SNL spinoff, an American SNL veteran popped in — to encourage the Irish actress to make some mischief while the cameras are rolling during the program’s live broadcast. Viewers in the United States can catch a clip of her monologue below from broadcaster Sky TV.
After making a monologue joke about consuming “a staggering amount of cocaine” to recreate “the magic of original 1970s SNL,” Coughlan says in the video, “But look, it’s an honor to be hosting. It’s sort of feels like I manifested it somehow. It’s almost like this place is like, magic.”
“That’s because it is,” announces Jimmy Fallon, appearing on stage out of the blue to impart “the biggest secret of SNL” to Saturday’s host.
“Don’t tell anyone, but … it’s live,” Fallon says. “It’s actually live. You can do whatever you want. You can go wherever you want. You’re the host. They don’t stop you!”
And so the pair takes a backstage stroll that has Coughlan feeling the power that comes with taking control. Run-ins with cast members ensue, but it’s a certain rock musician that stops her in her tracks.
“Jimmy. Jimmy. It’s Dave Grohl,” Coughlan says in a hushed tone upon spotting the Foo Fighters vocalist, to which Fallon suggests, “You should ask him to be best friends — because we’re live. He has to say yes.”
Coughlan shoots her shot. Sure enough, Grohl plays the yes man: “Sure, why not?” he replies. The new besties share a high five and heart hands.
“That was incredible!” Coughlan exclaims.
Watch Coughlan’s SNL monologue, featuring Jimmy Fallon plus a cameo from Dave Grohl, in the video below uploaded to the official SNK UK YouTube channel. She’s currently one of the stars in the family film The Magic Faraway Tree, now playing in the U.K. and set for release in the U.S. in August.