Inde Navarrette used her Saturday Night Live hosting debut to skewer Shane Gillis’ controversial gym comments, tease her upcoming Marvel role and turn her breakout performance in Obsession into a darkly comic opening monologue.
The Halloween episode also delivered a surprise return for Tom Hanks’ David S. Pumpkins during the cold open, while Gracie Abrams joined Navarrette as the night’s musical guest.
Navarrette Turns Her Breakout Role Into an ‘SNL’ Joke
Navarrette opened by addressing the role that brought her acclaim this summer. In Curry Barker’s horror hit Obsession, she plays Nikki Freeman, a woman who is cursed after Bear, played by Michael Johnston, wishes that she would love him more than anyone else in the world.
“You probably know me from the movie Obsession,” Navarrette told the audience. “People ask me if I’m anything like my character Nikki, and I’m like, No. No, no, don’t do that.”
She then insisted she was nothing like Nikki, pointing to her boyfriend, Nick Aiello, in the audience. The camera revealed him duct-taped to his seat as Navarrette declared that they had “such a chill relationship.”
The monologue soon shifted to Navarrette’s next major role: Rogue in Marvel Studios’ forthcoming X-Men reboot. She said she had been working out because of the physical expectations attached to appearing in a Marvel movie.
That setup led directly to the night’s pointed Shane Gillis joke.
“So every morning, I put on my little whore outfit, and I hit the gym,” Navarrette said.
The line referenced Gillis’ Oct. 10 SNL monologue, in which he said women now “dress like whores” at the gym before describing brightly colored shorts and complaining that men were not supposed to look. His remarks generated controversy following the episode.
Halloween Costumes Bring an ‘X-Men’ Audition
Navarrette invited cast members onstage to display their Halloween looks, joking that they could not go out that night. Marcello Hernandez arrived as “a sexy TSA agent,” while Kam Patterson portrayed Elizabeth Holmes.
Jeremy Culhane used the costume segment to pitch himself for Jake Schreier’s upcoming X-Men movie. Dressed as Wolverine, he told Navarrette that he had heard the character had not yet been cast.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I can’t comment on that,” she replied.
Culhane answered that he could comment — and that he would love to appear in the movie with her.
Grace Reiter then appeared as the bird involved in the viral Kelly Clarkson and Art of Play controversy. Veronika Slowikowska completed the group costume dressed as the American Idol winner, demanding, “Sell me the damn bird!” Reiter’s bird shot back, “I am not for sale!”
Tom Hanks Brings Back David S. Pumpkins
The episode’s cold open began with Reiter and Culhane taking a spooky ride before Hanks made an unexpected appearance as David S. Pumpkins.
James Austin Johnson’s Trump interrupted the Halloween sketch to address the upcoming midterms and compare himself with Pumpkins. Johnson’s character said both had appeared in 2016 and described them as “very loud, very orange” and “very frankly annoying.”
Saidah Belo-Osagie joined him as Nicki Minaj, introduced as Trump’s “friend and future press secretary.” Showing support for the president, she joked, “Trump’s out here killing it — and by it, I mean my career.”
Slowikowska also appeared as Katie Zacharia, Trump’s brief, former White House press secretary. Her character failed to complete the show’s familiar opening declaration, instead beginning, “With confidence. Live from New York. And from so many cities,” before being cut off.
From ‘Obsession’ to Marvel
Navarrette’s hosting debut follows the extraordinary performance of Obsession. The low-budget movie has grossed more than $522 million worldwide and became Focus Features’ biggest film of all time.
The TIFF title also became the top-grossing festival acquisition and recorded the biggest second-weekend box-office increase in modern times outside the Christmas holiday.
Beyond playing Rogue in the Marvel Studios reboot, Navarrette is set to star in Apple Original Films’ science-fiction thriller The Waffle House Index. She will also executive produce that project.
Her episode arrived during SNL Season 52, which has also featured hosts Jalen Brunson, Dakota Johnson and Gillis.
ShowBiz Take
Navarrette’s debut smartly connected every part of her current moment: the unsettling premise of Obsession, the physical preparation for X-Men and the controversy left behind by the show’s previous host. Rather than merely acknowledging Gillis’ remarks, she repurposed them into a compact punchline on the same stage where they were delivered.
The episode also balanced that sharp callback with Halloween nostalgia through Hanks’ surprise appearance, while the Wolverine bit allowed SNL to play directly with the attention surrounding Navarrette’s confirmed role as Rogue.
What Happens Next?
Druski will host the Nov. 7 episode with The Strokes as musical guest. He will be the first social media influencer to host SNL.
John Mulaney will then return to host on Nov. 14, joined by musical guest Phoebe Bridgers.