Irish actor Paul Mescal pictured here in 2023.Getty Images
Irish actor Paul Mescal has been announced as the host of the December 7 episode of "Saturday Night Live," the iconic late-night comedy show that airs live from New York City.
Mescal, who is in the midst of a media blitz for his highly-anticipated film "Gladiator II," will be the seventh Irish actor to take the helm at Studio 8H.
The Co Kildare native follows other Irish hosts Gabriel Byrne (1995), Pierce Brosnan (2001), Liam Neeson (2004), Colin Farrell (2004), Saoirse Ronan (2017), and Brendan Gleeson (2022).
Mescal will be hosting "SNL" while country star Shaboozey is the featured musical guest.
"SNL" is a perhaps unexpected move for the Oscar-nominated Irish actor who is more noted for his dramatic roles - he shot to fame with his portrayal of Connell Waldron in the television adaptation of Irish author Sally Rooney's "Normal People," which he followed with roles in the films "God's Creatures," "The Lost Daughter," "Aftersun," "Foe," and "All of Us Strangers."
However, Mescal's small-screen debut - a 2018 commercial for Denny's Irish sausages - was certainly more lighthearted:
With another Irish actor being trusted with "SNL" hosting duties, one thing is a near certainty - a cringey, stereotype-laden "Irish" sketch will likely be gracing our screens.
In 2004 - with Liam Neeson hosting - the "You Call This a House Do Ya?: The Irish Home Makeover Show" sketch portrayed the Irish as angry drinkers, and even managed to get in a reference to potatoes.
Interestingly, in that same episode, Neeson addressed stereotypes during his opening monologue: "When I showed up here at the beginning of the week, people had all these ideas where I played all sorts of things, most of them Irish and drunk."
More than a decade later, Saoirse Ronan - who, as it happens, is now great pals with fellow Irish actor Mescal - caught some major flak for a bizarre Aer Lingus bit when she hosted in 2017.
Since then, "SNL" raised Irish eyebrows with their "Irish Dating Show" and "Celtic Woman" sketches.
More recently, a 2023 "SNL" skit featured caricatures of Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell on the Oscars red carpet speaking in jibberish, ostensibly poking fun at the Irish accent.
"Wow, and they haven't even started drinking yet!," the interviewer quips in the sketch.
Farrell, however, had the last laugh with a stark retort later on Jimmy Kimmel Live.