As soon as President Trump appointed Fox News host Jeanine Pirro as Interim US Attorney for the District Of Columbia this past week, Saturday Night Live fans started speculating that we’d see a return of Cecily Strong. The popular former cast member played Pirro on a semi-regular basis during her tenure on the show, and it’s widely remembered as one of her most popular impressions. It only made sense for SNL to comment on the news and for Strong to be the one to play her, but what wasn’t as expected was the second cameo SNL gave us.
This week’s episode was hosted by Walton Goggins. There was a lot of talk heading into Saturday about whether we’d get a cameo from his White Lotus co-star Aimee Lou Wood, given there have been relentless rumors about an alleged feud between the two. She was asked about it on the red carpet of the Met Gala and said flat out it wasn’t happening, but given she admitted she was upset about an SNL sketch that featured her earlier in the season, it seemed like a public opportunity to move beyond both lingering stories. That didn’t happen, but what we did get was a cameo from another of Goggins’ White Lotus co-stars: Sam Rockwell.
Rockwell has hosted SNL before, back in 2018, and his acting career has shown off a willingness to get silly now and again. He leaned into that big time last night, as he appeared in a sketch about a woman, played by Jane Wickline, searching for a baby at the zoo after she finds one tiny shoe. To her surprise, it actually belongs to a fully grown Walton Goggins, who happens to have really small feet. They’re later joined by Rockwell, who somehow has even smaller feet. You can watch the madness below…
I love it when SNL gets weird. There’s just something about a sketch with a really random and/ or absurd premise that speaks right into my soul. I loved the charades argument on the ferry last week, and I can’t get enough of this stupid baby shoe bit either. Not everything needs to be really intellectual or topical or about politics. SNL is at its best when it’s a balance of both.
Fortunately, we got both last night. As mentioned, we also got the cameo from former longtime Featured Player Cecily Strong. The comedienne left the show after a decade back in 2022 and returned earlier this year for the show’s 50th Anniversary special. A lot of fans thought it was a slam dunk she’d be back the second President Trump announced Pirro as the new US Attorney, but I had some lingering doubt, given she just gave birth to her first child, a baby girl, in April.
Prime comedy opportunities don’t have any respect for maternity leave though, and she showed up to the delight of fans, who gave her a big round of applause when she entered. She earned those claps too, as her Pirro impression was as delightful as ever. You can watch it below…
James Austin Johnson’s President Trump impression is, of course, always excellent, but I also need to comment on Colin Jost’s appearance as Secretary Of Defense Pete Hegseth. Jost typically only appears on camera during Weekend Update, but to the delight of fans, he’s randomly shown up in sketches multiple weeks in a row. With his wife Scarlett Johansson as the upcoming host for next week’s season finale, it’s entirely possible we could get three weeks in a row of sketch appearances, which certainly wouldn’t do anything to shut down those questions as to whether he could be leaving the show.
Rumors about who is staying and who are going are a regular fixture at the end of every SNL season though, and as Strong proved last night and we’ve seen throughout this season, the door is always open for best ex-cast members to return any given week.
