Over the years, Saturday Night Live has featured some A-list hosts. While there is a long list of surprising celebrities who have never hosted SNL, the list of those who have is even longer, making the sketch series as memorable as ever throughout its almost 50-season run. Among those who hosted back in the early days include a young Jodie Foster, who is now spilling the tea about what happened behind the scenes.
At the time that Foster hosted, she was the youngest host at just 14 years old in 1976. She already had quite an impressive filmography with several film and TV roles under her belt as a major child actor, including Freaky Friday and Paper Moon. Despite having done so much already, she was still nervous to host SNL, which isn’t so surprising. Foster, now 61, opened up to Interview Magazine about that time, and how she had an Orange Julius drink spill all over her just before going live:
SNL was what was happening then. It was Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, and every single person that you’ve ever heard of that was on SNL in those days, because it was a transition between the two groups. So it was an extraordinary show, but I was really nervous. I’d never done live anything. About 10 minutes before I went on, I was drinking an Orange Julius, and the whole thing fell all over my shirt. I didn’t have time to change my clothes, and I was all sticky and broke out in hives because it didn’t go perfectly. So yeah, it wasn’t this wonderful experience for me. It was more like, ‘Oh wow, this is why I don’t like live theater.’
The fact that Jodie Foster was already nervous because she was not only just 14 years old, but it was also all live. Throw in a getting a drink spilled on her, it would just add on to the nerves. Not to mention that she was at an age where things were already getting awkward, and she was growing up in the limelight. That’s the one thing about live television. You never know what could happen. While Foster didn’t particularly like hosting Saturday Night Live for a number of reasons, at least she managed to get through it.
1976 was the only time Foster hosted SNL. It’s unknown why it is the only time she hosted, but considering she didn’t have the greatest experience when she was 14, it’s likely that played a factor. She also mentioned that since she was just a kid, the writers didn’t know what to do with her and made her do some weird stuff. Despite the series being loved by many, there are definitely some questionable sketches and others that can be either a hit or a miss.
Having that experience at such a young age can be hard, and while Foster acknowledged that being on Saturday Night Live was such a huge deal, getting an Orange Julius spilled on her was only just the beginning. Whether or not Foster would host SNL now is unknown, but she is a pretty busy actress. Either because of her schedule or because she doesn’t want a repeat after all these years, fans shouldn’t expect her to return to Studio 8H.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of hosts and musical guests for Season 49 to look forward to. The series is currently on hiatus for the holidays but will be back in the new year with much more. Jodie Foster, on the other hand, will be kicking off 2024 with the fourth season of True Detective, premiering on January 14 with a Max subscription.
