Los Angeles, Nov 12 (IANS): Timothee Chalamet, appearing on the latest episode Saturday Night Live (SNL), went on to tease his upcoming film 'Wonka', by remixing the song 'Pure Imagination' from the iconic 1971 film 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'.
During his opening monologue, the ‘Dune’ actor said he felt lucky to be hosting the show after the SAG-AFTRA strike ended after 118 days. This allowed him to speak of his new projects on-hand as the actors reached a tentative agreement with the studios.
“Up until two days ago, and I know this is what we were all thinking about, actors couldn’t talk about their movies,” he said.
“The only thing I was allowed to talk about is that I have a commercial coming out. It’s an ad for a perfume, directed by Martin Scorsese.”
“Now let me tell you, when you get that call that Martin Scorsese wants to direct you, the first thing you think is man, I really hope it’s a perfume commercial,” he jokingly said as per The Hollywood Reporter.
“It’s like we’re all returning to this magical world where actors can once again talk about their projects.” As soon as he said this, the song began playing in the background.
“Come with me and you’ll be in a world of shameless self-promotion,” Chalamet sings, referencing the song’s original lyrics with a twist. “It’s OK, I can say … that my new film Wonka is out in theaters December 15th.”
“If you want to view a 3 1/2-hour film, go see ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’, or just wait for part two of ‘Dune’. Just make sure before to use the bathroom.”
Addressing the audience, Chalamet said that it was rather refreshing to be here amongst real human beings after spending 118 days thinking about artificial intelligence, since it was one of the key points in SAG-AFTRA’s contract negotiations.
“But thanks to the new SAG deal, TV shows can’t just use AI to make it look like a crowd is bigger than it actually is. Isn’t that right, people in the bleachers?” he asked as the screen displayed oddly looking AI-generated people sitting in the stands.
Chalamet coyly added: “Look, the really important thing is the return of America’s favourite industry: Hollywood.”
As he was about to continue singing, ‘SNL’ cast member Marcello Hernandez interrupted Chalamet on stage to remind of all the things that they have in common, especially their baby faces.
The duo then proceeded to start rapping to an ‘I got a baby face’ by Punkie Johnson as Nicki Minaj and Kenan Thompson as himself also later joined in on the rap.
The November 11 episode was Chalamet’s second time hosting the sketch comedy show, and he was joined by musical guest boygenius.