When Saturday Night time Are living introduced that Timothée Chalamet can be webhosting on November 11, it gave the look of an act of optimism. Up till then, the display had dodged the Display Actors Guild–strike laws in opposition to promotion this season via bringing on both hosts with not anything to promote (the alum Pete Davidson) or artists whose paintings didn’t fall below the contract in query (the musician Unhealthy Bunny and the comic Nate Bargatze).

However Chalamet was once other. If the strike had long past on, Chalamet would’ve seemed with a chocolate-making proverbial elephant putting out within the room. In December he has a large studio film popping out, the Charlie and the Chocolate Manufacturing facility prequel musical, Wonka, which is strictly the type of movie actors hit up SNL to shill.

Remaining week, on the other hand, the actors reached a maintain the Alliance of Movement Image and Tv Manufacturers and the strike formally ended on Thursday. So when Chalamet took the level final evening for his monologue, it was once a birthday party that doubled as a go back to trade as same old. He wasted no time, reminding the target audience no longer best that they may be able to purchase tickets for Wonka, which is out December 15, but in addition that he can sing and twirl smartly sufficient to play the famed personality from Roald Dahl’s ebook.

“Now the strike is over,” he started, because the twinkly sounds of the Wonka-theme “Natural Creativeness” kicked in. “It’s like we’re all returning to this magical global the place actors can as soon as once more discuss their tasks.” As he sang, he amended the lyrics: “Include me, and also you’ll be in an international of shameless self-promotion.” He cracked jokes concerning the union’s fight for protections in opposition to synthetic intelligence. “You recognize, after spending 118 days interested by AI, it’s so refreshing to be right here among actual human beings,” he mentioned, making a lady within the target audience snigger as he took a seat subsequent to her and commented on how she smelled “nice.”

For hosts on SNL, “shameless self-promotion” is most often the secret. An actor takes the gig to coincide with a film premiere or an awards run. Positive, they get to sing their own praises their comedian chops, however there’s a objective in the back of it—a objective that have been most commonly lacking from the primary 3 episodes of the present season. To be transparent, there was once one thing virtually old fashioned and delightful a couple of run of hosts who have been type of simply … there to be there (despite the fact that Unhealthy Bunny did have a brand new album out). Remaining evening was once a go back to normalcy for SNL, and a recreation of catch-up. Chalamet needed to each cheer on his fellow union participants and release what was once necessarily a advertising and marketing marketing campaign that was once a bit in the back of agenda.

The Wonka-themed “old-timey stuff,” as outlined via the solid member Marcello Hernandez, was once temporarily disbursed, and Chalamet endured the evening signaling that he can be a more youthful, hipper Willy Wonka than Gene Wilder prior to him. With Hernandez, he introduced right into a livid rap about having a “child face” that featured the refrain, “I’ve were given a toddler face, however my hips don’t lie / say I’m a foul child, whinge, I’m a foul man.”

Tune was once a theme of the evening—however no longer precisely the song you’d be expecting from Willy Wonka. It was once transparent from the shift all through the monologue that Chalamet is extra relaxed rapping than crooning, despite the fact that the display did write him a brand new equine ode for a comic strip devoted to a dystopian “Large Horse,” a follow-up to his “Tiny Horse” ballad from 2020.

In an instant, Chalamet reprised his common personality from his earlier look on SNL, the Gen Z rap celebrity named $mokecheddathaassgetta, a twerp with purple hair and no sense of historical past. The nature confirmed up on a comic strip titled “Museum of Hip-Hop Panel,” the place the efficiency of his music “Grasp Grasp Grasp” were given him spanked via Kenan Thompson enjoying Cornel West. Chalamet, whose very personal high-school rap about statistics has long past viral, is comfy enjoying the position of insolent teenager, shooting the bratty aesthetics of a clueless TikToker who thinks he can spit bars.

Afterward, Chalamet swayed his hips in some other comic strip that outlined him as a early life whisperer. He portrayed the queer pop celebrity Troye Sivan as a “sleep demon” who inflamed the mind of a immediately lady performed via Sarah Sherman. He won squeals from the gang as he confirmed off his “tiny little purple lingerie.” It was once slightly that may were laborious to give an explanation for to someone who wasn’t conversant in Sivan’s sultry movies, however it nevertheless introduced an image of Chalamet as any individual down to take a look at stylish “choreo.”

Now that Chalamet in truth can advertise Wonka, he turns out to pay attention to the problem he’s going to stand in that position. He’s in an enormous splashy film geared toward youngsters, in keeping with a assets that feels staid and overdone. He’s in spite of everything unfastened to discuss it, however he has to additionally reassure his fanbase: Don’t fear. He’s nonetheless cool.