Saturday Night Live has always been “quick on the trigger” when it comes to crafting sketches based on some of the biggest headlines from the previous week. It was the same with Jake Gyllenhaal hosting SNL's season 49 finale as the show humorously asked the public to keep character actors safe in the wake of Steve Buscemi's assault.
The sketch saw Gyllenhaal leading as a New York City police sergeant hosting a press conference to call attention to a recent and worrying trend on the city's streets – assaults of character actors. Gyllenhaal said these types of attacks “cannot and will not be tolerated” before asking the public to “stop punching character actors in the face.”
When asked to define character actors, Gyllenhaal's police sergeant as “actors whose faces you can remember but names you cannot.”
Several notable character actors including Stephen Root, Rick Moranis, and “the shockingly versatile Michael Stuhlbarg” had either already been assaulted or were warned off the possibility, along with anyone who “played a girlfriend on Seinfeld or a boyfriend on Sex and the City.”
Jon Hamm also makes an appearance to ask if he should be worried about falling victim to such an attack. Thankfully for him, he is told that he “should be fine” and can breath a sigh of relief.
Unprovoked assault
The skit was able to bring some levity in the wake of Steve Buscemi's assault on May 8th while out in the Kips Bay neighborhood of New York City's Manhattan borough. A man reportedly punched Buscemi unprovoked while the actor was crossing the street, forcing Buscemi to be taken to a nearby hospital for bruising, swelling, and bleeding around his left eye.
He was released shortly after but has not made a statement about the situation.
New York City resident Clifton Williams was identified as the primary suspect after being seen on security footage matching the description of the person who assaulted Buscemi. He was arrested on Friday after reportedly being recognized by officers at Manhattan's 10th Precinct where Williams had gone to file a stolen property report.
Williams is also suspected of punching a 22-year-old man only minutes earlier several blocks away from where Buscemi was assaulted.
Making light of reality
Being able to make light of a serious situation such as Buscemi's assault is part of what has made SNL the TV institution it is. Season 49, alone, saw skits take aim at Republic Sen. Katie Britt's rebuttal to President Joe Biden's 2024 State of the Union and the ongoing Donald Trump hush money trial.
Fans can only expect SNL to pick things up when it returns for season 50, which coincides with the 2024 U.S. Presidential election. Election seasons typically provide the series with plenty of material for the first few months of a season, and viewers can likely expect the same when Fall rolls around.
Saturday Night Live is available to stream on Peacock.
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