No time was wasted whenDaniel Craiggot down to parodyingNo Time to Diewhile hostingSaturday Night Livelast night, March 7. Our favorite blond Bond kicked off his secondSNLhosting gig — which comes eight years after he first hosted — with an opening monologue full ofNo Time to Diewisecracks.
Craig’s monologue kicked off with a fun joke aboutPhoebe Waller-Bridge’s involvement onNo Time to Dieas one of the screenwriters. In a jokey example of the kind of dialogue one could expect to see in Bond 25 courtesy of theFleabagstar, Craig turns to a camera, smolders as he says “The name’s Bond, James Bond,” and then scrunches up his face and says, “Is it bad that I fancy the Pope?”
Craig goes on to prove he might be our finest living comedic actor when he introduced a sneak peek fromNo Time to Diewhich is basically a three-minute parody skit. The scene starts in classic Bond fashion, with a suited-up Craig strolling into a casino to meet withSNLcast memberChloe Fineman, who is dressed as anAna de Armaslookalike. Bond quickly gets distracted when he begins winning big at the craps table. Soon, Fineman’s temptress is pushed out of the way as other characters, likeKeenan Thompsonas a member of a bachelor party andKate McKinnonas an old lady, swarm around him to cheer him on. Things get pretty bananas pretty quickly — at one point, Craig-as-Bond jumps up on a chair and demands to be called “Simba” because he’s “king of the jungle” — and it’s maybe the most perfect thing you’ll see all weekend.
Even though theNo Time to Dieparody comes (checks notes) eight months early for a film recentlypushed back to late November, Craig’sKnives Out-centric skit was very timely. The skit, “Accent Coach,” kicks off withSNL’sMikey DayplayingKnives OutdirectorRian Johnsonand he’s brought Craig in to show off the accent he’s chosen to play Benoit Blanc. Craig then reveals he’s been working with an accent coach, which turns out to beSNLcast memberBeck Bennettwearing a bedazzled denim jumpsuit. Naturally, some great hijinks ensue when it’s revealed that Bennett’s accent coach might not be giving the tools Craig needs to nail playing Blanc.
No Time to Diehits theaters on November 25 (not April 10!). Watch the secondSNLskit where Craig pokes fun atKnives Outbelow and get the latest news on the 25th Bond movie’s release pushhere.
