Jesse Eisenberg doesn’t seem to have much good to remember from his time of hosting Saturday Night Live.
The actor recently opened up about his 2011 SNL hosting experience, revealing that a major misstep still haunts him.
During a Feb. 10 appearance on Today with Jenna & Friends, the 41-year-old actor shared that while hosting the iconic sketch comedy show was a career milestone, his approach to the opportunity left him with regrets.
“I think they said it was the best episode they ever did,” Eisenberg joked. “I only have bad memories because I did such a dumb thing.”
The Social Network star explained that his longtime dream was to write for SNL, and he mistakenly believed he would have the opportunity to contribute sketches as a host.
“My dream when I was 17 was to write for SNL. I made a packet and everything and I got an agent. And then, when I got asked to host, which was 10 years later, I assumed I could write all the sketches. I didn’t know how it works. It turns out, they have writers.”
Eisenberg admitted that he spent the week slipping scripts to different cast members, unaware that this was not the standard process.
“I didn’t realize — I’m an idiot — and I was also just wanting to write. I’ve wanted to write my whole life. So I spent the week slipping scripts to different actors. I didn’t realize that was not the way you do that.”
When asked by host Jenna Bush Hager if any of his sketches made it to air, Eisenberg confessed the attempt backfired.
“It was so unbelievably inappropriate and offensive of me that, no,” he said.
Guest host and former SNL cast member Amy Poehler weighed in, suggesting he simply “worked too hard.”
Eisenberg humorously disagreed, responding, “Not according to the people who wrote the show! They wished I went the other way.”
Reflecting on the experience, Eisenberg joked that he may have been misled.
“I was assured, ‘Yes, of course. That sounds great,’ they said. It turns out I was sabotaged,” he quipped.
