What happened when Timothée Chalamet came face to face with Chloe Fineman on SNL

CNN
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Some may know Chloe Feynman as a major impressionist “SNL” But she says she might walk away from season 49 with a new title.

“I 'The girl who was raised by huge men “This year, I'm not really mad about it,” she joked to CNN recently, referring to two memorable scenes that had her jumping into the arms of “Aquaman” star Jason Momoa and “Euphoria” star Jason Momoa. Jacob Al-Wardirespectively.

In fact, this has been a great season for Fineman, who has been a part of the long-running sketch show since 2019. I've seen her perform ballet in the streets. With Julia Stiles He came face to face with Timothée Chalamet after he made a strange impression on him.

In the midst of promoting it New campaign With NÜTRL Vodka Seltzer, Fineman spoke to CNN about some of her most amazing sketches from what was arguably her best season yet.

It wasn't until about 11:30 p.m. on the Friday night before the live taping of the December episode of “SNL” that Fineman received word from a producer that her “Save the Last Dance” sketch was a success.

As the clock struck midnight, the first call was made to the star of the 2001 film, Julia Stiles, to see if she would be available for a cameo role in the sketch paying tribute to the film. Fortunately, Stiles was not only awake at that hour, but ready to assemble.

“She happened to be in New York and said, 'Sure, yeah, I'll get a babysitter!'” Feinman said.

The last-minute decision to go ahead with the painting left little time for preparation before showtime.

Reading cue cards while performing choreography on the live show was a new challenge for Fineman, so she worked hard with the choreographer to learn the dance on the day of the live show “in this weird gym we have at 30 Rock that supposedly only Seth Meyers works at.”

Stiles arrived around 5pm to practice with Fineman, and came prepared to “practice and get things done right.”

the fee It features Stiles and Fineman explaining that her idea of ​​the perfect “intimate” holiday gift is the pivotal Juilliard audition dance that Stiles' character performs at the end of the film. Feynman explains the plot during her hilarious performance of the routine.

In the end, Styles was met with loud cheers and applause when she took the “SNL” stage to perform with Fineman in the surprise show.

“For the audience to freak out the way they did, I thought it was very special and very cool,” Feinman said.

Although the drawing was successful, the final product was not what was initially intended. According to Feynman, it was originally written for Adam Driverwho hosted the episode and was going to receive her steamy holiday “gift” until the sketch direction changed to include Stiles instead.

“I had a table read and Adam Driver was looking at me and I was like, ‘Another day at the office making a fool of myself with the greatest actor of our generation.’” “Awesome, awesome, awesome,” she recalls, laughing.

The first time Timothée Chalamet hosted SNL, Fineman appeared in a sketch doing an impression of himself.

So when Chalamet returned to host “SNL” for a second time in November and appeared in a sketch with Feinman playing him again, it wasn't the first time he'd seen Feinman interact with him up close.

the fee It was a pre-recorded segment that aired during the live broadcast and featured Fineman and several cast members doing impressions of the celebrities they auditioned to be. Audiobook The narrator of Britney Spears' 2023 memoir “The woman inside me.”

Feynman opens the drawing with her signature photo of Spears before appearing as Chalamet laughing and muttering. It's funny that Fineman's version of Chalamet in this drawing can't read his lines, but there was the impression that she had some trepidation about doing so.

“At first I was like, 'I don't want to do this, I don't want to make him uncomfortable because I really love him,'” she admitted. But the show's experienced team of writers encouraged her to trust the process.

Their advice paid off.

“He really got a kick out of it. He was really laughing! She said. “I prefer [thing] Does he laugh the way my impression does, so it's kind of this crazy thing.

Feynman came up with the concept for the drawing shortly after the release of Spears's raucous memoirs. She worked with “SNL” writers Jake Nordwind and Mike DiCenzo in the corner, choosing which impressions to include and who could portray them in the cast.

“It's kind of the fun of the show: You have all these wonderful people who can surprise you with their impressions,” she said of her cast mates, highlighting Molly Kearney's impression of actor Kevin James and Mikey Day's Steve-O. “I love a sketch like this because everyone scores.”

Ultimately, Feynman's celebrity impressions are carefully chosen and always done with admiration. “I would never leave the impression of someone who I think doesn't have a sense of humor or is fragile,” she said.

Fineman isn't quite sure how she got the good fortune to play a character who shares the same personality Kiss on screen with Jacob Elordi during a sketch in January, but she has a hidden doubt.

“I also had a lucky roll with Jason Momoa, where I got lifted by a hunk,” she said of A.J. fee It aired in November when the “Aquaman” actor was the episode's host. “Maybe it's because it worked so well with Jason Momoa, so let's try it with Jacob.”

In Elordi's sketch, Fineman's character is the lead on a reality dating show geared toward men of below average height. She ended up choosing the 6-foot-5 Elordi, with whom she engaged in a very dramatic kiss at the end.

The whole thing was fun, according to Fineman, who said Elordi and Momoa are “some of the best hosts we've ever had, and they handle intimate sketches with ease.”

“To be honest, they were like, 'Yes, sure, whatever,' and they knew it was funny. 'It was easy,' she said. 'They were so beautiful and tall.'

Fineman, who describes herself as a “short queen,” admits she had to exercise some self-control when in close contact with some of the show's more gorgeous hosts, likening her nerves to that high school girlish feeling one might get when bumping into someone. a fan.

“I'm just saying, 'Just play it cool,'” she joked. “I'm just trying not to be weird, which is obviously the hardest thing to do when you're being lifted by Momoa.”

The Elordi and Momoa sketches were written by Nordwind and DiCenzo but Fineman revealed that she also wrote and submitted a sketch for the Chalamet episode “where he lifted me up and we had to kiss”.

Unfortunately, Chalamet's sketch was cut off during loop rehearsal, but it became clear to Feynman that a pattern was beginning to emerge.

“I feel like part of it is, if it was my idea, it wouldn't happen. If it was someone else's thing, I don't know, maybe it would work out.”

“SNL” airs Saturdays at 11:30 PM ET/8:30 PM PDT on NBC. This week's host is comedian Shane Gillis with musical guest 21 Savage.