Glen Powell's Saturday Night Live monologue was a full-circle moment for the actor and a surprise guest appearance.
Powell, who stars in the new film The Running Man, made his SNL debut on Nov. 15 alongside musical guest Olivia Dean.
For his opening monologue, Powell recalled how four years ago he was supposed to host a late-night comedy show to promote Top Gun: Maverick, but his plans were thwarted by the film's rescheduled release date.
“When I got the call, I was on the porch with my family and we were all just going crazy,” Powell explained. “We were jumping around celebrating and at that very moment the UPS driver was delivering a package and he said, 'What's going on?'
Powell explained to the UPS driver that he had received a call from the “SNL” host and advised the driver to tune in to that season's Christmas episode.
“And so we all took a selfie with him, and it's a selfie to commemorate the occasion,” Powell said, before showing a photo of him posing with the UPS driver and his parents and sisters. “So it’s me, my whole family and the UPS driver.”
However, Powell said his “dream was taken away” after Top Gun: Maverick was delayed due to the pandemic and SNL rescinded his offer to host.
Powell joked that the show's creator and producer Lorne Michaels called him and told him that without Top Gun: Maverick, no one would “know who you are.”
“So I didn't host, which means for four years this UPS driver was just saying Glen Powell was a liar,” Powell said. “So now I'm here hosting. It's amazing. But what's even better is proving to that UPS driver that I'm not crazy.”
Surprisingly, Powell then shared this information. his sisters Lauren and Leslie, were able to track down a UPS driver by joking that the women in his family were “horrible.”
“They found the cell phone number of this guy from UPS, his name is Mitch,” Powell said. “To prove to Mitch that I'm not a liar, I flew him to New York – coach, I don't know how the Running Man will do yet – but I flew him here and he thought it was a scam, but he flew anyway. And he's sitting in the gym tonight, so let's give it up for Mitch, the UPS guy.”
The camera showed Mitch sitting in the audience waving at the camera. Powell then invited Mitch onto the Studio 8H stage to recreate that original selfie and “complete the circle.”
Although this was Powell's first time hosting a late-night comedy show, the actor appeared briefly twice in March 2024. during the debut of his Anybody But You co-star Sydney Sweeney.
During her monologue, Sweeney brought up the “craziest rumor” she's heard about herself online, which was: she and Powell had an affair while they were filming the 2023 rom-com. Sweeney denied the rumors and said that her then-fiancé Jonathan Davino produced the film and was with the duo the entire time during filming.
Sweeney added that Davino was in the audience to show his support. But cameras showed Powell smiling in the audience, leaving Sweeney to scream: “That's not my fiancé! He's in my dressing room!”
Powell also appeared during a sketch called “Loud table” in which Sweeney was on a date with her boyfriend, played by Andrew Dismukes. However, during the date, Sweeney admitted that she cheated on him with her boss, played by none other than Powell.
