NEW YORK — Rising actor Inde Navarrette stepped onto the Studio 8H stage on Saturday night to make her hosting debut on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” anchoring an irreverent Halloween broadcast marked by sharp celebrity callouts and deadpan physical comedy.
Navarrette, 25, who recently broke out in the horror thriller “Obsession,” used her opening monologue to address recent controversy surrounding comedian Shane Gillis. Addressing her preparation for an upcoming role as Rogue in a Marvel “X-Men” film, Navarrette directly parodied comments Gillis made during his Oct. 10 monologue regarding women’s gym apparel.
“I’m gonna be in a Marvel movie … so every morning, I put on my little whore outfit, and I hit the gym,” Navarrette said to cheers from the studio audience, Page Six reported.
Gillis had drawn wide backlash earlier in October after questioning women wearing revealing workout clothing. Former cast members including Cecily Strong and Ego Nwodim, as well as actor Dan Levy, publicly criticized Gillis’ comments in the weeks following that broadcast, Page Six noted.
Robots, unruly flights, and soap opera satire
Navarrette leaned heavily into physical humor throughout the night, appearing across several varied sketch premises. In a taped short titled “The Inventor,” she starred as a somber widow who inherits a compact companion robot named PD 44 from her eccentric late spouse, Variety reported. Six years later, when she brings home a romantic suitor played by Ben Marshall, the machine turns out to stand for “Penis Destroyer,” violently severing the date’s anatomy and propelling it to the moon.
The actor also displayed her physical timing in a Spanish-language soap opera parody titled “El Corazón Que No Siente.” Navarrette and cast member Marcello Hernández played dramatic actors forced to endure product placement for a fictional habanero-flavored soda concocted by artificial intelligence, Rolling Stone reported. The bit featured Navarrette dramatically throwing herself over living room furniture and executing aggressive spit takes before a corporate executive played by Mikey Day unmasked himself as a corporate spy for 7Up.
In another commercial spoof, “Delta Disruptive,” the show mocked airline travel by imagining a designated flight cabin reserved solely for chaotic fliers, Vulture reported. Navarrette portrayed a combative, pantless traveler named Sondra from the Jersey Shore alongside passengers attempting to breach exit doors and clip toenails mid-flight.
Cameos and guest appearances
The annual Halloween installment opened with a surprise appearance by Tom Hanks, who reprised his recurring David S. Pumpkins character during the political cold open, according to Vulture and Variety. Former repertory player Bobby Moynihan also returned to Studio 8H, appearing in the cold open before joining Michael Che and Colin Jost at the “Weekend Update” desk.
Singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams served as the night’s musical guest, delivering two live performances, while the program concluded its credits with an on-screen tribute honoring actor Patrick Stewart, Vulture reported.
Navarrette is scheduled to begin filming her Marvel role in the coming months, while NBC has not yet announced the lineup for next week’s broadcast.
