Although you’ll will have to wait until July 17 to see him in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, Matt Damon fans got their fix on Saturday, May 9, thanks to his latest stint on Saturday Night Live. The Oscar-winner hosted SNL for the third time, alongside musical guest Noah Kahan.
Like the mathematics genius he played in Good Will Hunting, Damon was drawn to a whiteboard to create the perfect SNL sketch through stats and figures:
Damon won an Oscar for co-writing Good Will Hunting (1997) with his longtime Boston buddy Ben Affleck, and also competed in Best Actor for the film. He earned a supporting bid for his turn in Invictus (2009), a second lead acting nomination for The Martian (2015), and a Best Picture nom for Manchester by the Sea (2016). He previously hosted SNL during seasons 28 (2002) and 44 (2018), making cameo appearances on seasons 27 (2001) and 49 (2024). His season 44 hosting gig earned him an Emmy nomination, and given SNL‘s track record, a return to the comedy guest actor race could be in the cards.
Saturday Night Live has already announced the final host for Season 51: former cast member Will Ferrell (with musical guest Paul McCartney) on May 16. SNL recently added 11 Emmy Awards to its shelf in September, bringing its overall tally to 112.
Here are the best moments from Matt Damon’s latest hosting gig:
COLD OPEN: KAVANAUGH, HEGSETH, AND PATEL WALK INTO A BAR
Matt Damon wasted no time this week on SNL, appearing in the cold open as Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (Damon previously played the beer loving judge during a season 44 cold open satirizing his senate judicial hearings). Kavanaugh met up at a DC bar with his drinking buddy, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost), presenting him with a new voting district he’d just drawn up (“Actually,” the justice realized, “that’s a field sobriety test”). Lamenting the male loneliness epidemic, Kavanaugh and Hegseth got excited when FBI Director Kash Patel (Aziz Ansari) joined them for last call (they had, appropriately enough, a whiskey drink, a cider drink, and a lager drink) and toast to Donald Trump’s upcoming third term.
OPENING MONOLOGUE
Since tomorrow is Mother’s Day, SNL had planned to fly out all of the cast members moms for the occasion. “But then Spirit Airlines shut down,” Damon explained, making one audience member who brought flowers for Marcello Hernández’s mother some flowers. For anyone who hadn’t gotten their mom a gift yet, fear not: Damon delivered a special Mother’s Day message just for them, encouraging their significant others to take them out on a nice date… at some future date.
GODZILLA MOVIE
Airing tonight on The Monster Channel: Godzilla: King of the Monsters 2: Dawn of the King of All Monsters. As a naval admiral (Matt Damon) gets briefed on a mysterious figure swimming through the ocean, he has a hard time keeping his coffee, water, and food down. Unfortunately for Mikey Day, all of Damon’s spit takes — and those of his fellow naval officers — keep ending up directed at his face. Day better hope hot soup isn’t on the menu today!
MOM: THE MOVIE
Just in time for Mother’s Day, it’s Mom: The Movie. It’s a movie made just for your mom (Ashley Padilla), without any bad language, conflict, or anything else that could possibly offend her. In Mom: The Movie, the house is always clean, your three adult kids will move back in with you, and your husband (Matt Damon) will watch you put on a fashion show with all of your favorite clothes. It’s the perfect movie for moms who are guaranteed to fall asleep after 20 minutes.
TIDY CARE CRYSTALS COMMERCIAL
Every cat owner has wanted to be able to read their pets mind, which is why Tidy Care has a new brand of kitty litter that will assess your feline’s mood based off the color of their urine. When the Tidy Care Crystals turns blue, the commercial narrator (James Austin Johnson) informs pet owners Matt Damon and Ashely Padilla that a human has been peeing in the litter box. Looks like their son (Andrew Dismukes) has some explaining to do.
Damon is the 19th person to host SNL during this 51st season, following Bad Bunny (with musical guest Doja Cat) on Oct. 4; Amy Poehler (with musical guest Role Model) on Oct. 11; Sabrina Carpenter (who was also the musical guest) on Oct. 18; Miles Teller (with musical guest Brandi Carlile) on Nov. 1; Nikki Glaser (with musical guest Sombr) on Nov. 8; Glen Powell (with musical guest Olivia Dean) on Nov. 15; Melissa McCarthy on Dec. 6; Josh O’Connor (with musical guest Lily Allen) on Dec. 13; Ariana Grande (with musical guest Cher) on Dec. 20; Finn Wolfhard (with musical guest A$AP Rocky) on Jan. 17; Teyana Taylor (with musical guest Geese) on Jan. 24; Alexander Skarsgård (with musical guest Cardi B.) on Jan 31; Connor Storrie (with musical guest Mumford & Sons) on Feb. 28; Ryan Gosling (with musical guest Gorillaz) on March 7; Harry Styles (who was also musical guest) on March 14; Jack Black (with musical guest Jack White) on April 4; Colman Domingo (with musical guest Anitta) on April 11; and Olivia Rodrigo (who was also musical guest) on May 2.
