The Beavis and Butt-head Sketch on SNL Starring Ryan Gosling Took Years to Develop
The most talked-about moment of Saturday Night Live‘s recently concluded 49th season faced numerous obstacles in making it to the screen — and was actually several years in the making.
During Ryan Gosling‘s third hosting gig on NBC’s long-standing late-night sketch comedy series on April 13, he and cast member Mikey Day portrayed attendees at a NewsNation taping who bore a striking resemblance to Beavis and Butt-Head, characters from the 1993 MTV cartoon series created by Mike Judge.
Head of SNL makeup department Louie Zakarian and lead hairstylist Jodi Mancuso remember Day and head writer Streeter Seidell developing a version of the sketch around 2018 that was ultimately cut from the live show due to time constraints and lack of impact. The sketch resurfaced when it was selected for the 2022 episode hosted by Oscar Isaac but was once again axed before production. Fortunately, Gosling advocated for the sketch and the team found success this time around. Zakarian and Mancuso perfected the looks, with Zakarian figuring out how to recreate Day’s Butt-Head expression flawlessly.
“The biggest challenge was those teeth,” Zakarian tells THR. “I made him a little retainer that had dentures and braces on it but with a little protrusion that kept his lip up.”
For Gosling’s Beavis, the main concern was transforming the host into the character within a short break between skits. “Jodi and I were both like, ‘We need more time,’” Zakarian recalls. “After dress [rehearsal], they came back: ‘We got you more time. You’ve got 10 more seconds.’”
Despite the time constraints, they managed to pull it off, and the rest is viral history.
The sketch gained online attention due to the cast’s laughter, especially from Heidi Gardner as the NewsNation host; she couldn’t contain her amusement upon seeing Day’s transformation. “She fell apart during the dress rehearsal probably even more than she did in the live show because she did not know what to expect,” Mancuso says of Gardner’s reaction to Day’s new look.
The episode attracted the highest seven-day viewership since 2021, and the sketch’s popularity led to Gosling and Day reprising their roles later that month at the L.A. premiere of Gosling’s Universal feature The Fall Guy. Zakarian and Mancuso joined the actors for the subsequent appearance, giving them 10 minutes to recreate the iconic looks.
This story first appeared in the June 5 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.