Editor’s Note: He’s already shared his screen time rankings for each of Saturday Night Live’s Season 49 cast members, hosts and musical guests, now in his final season-end screen time post, Matthew Stewart turns his trusty stopwatch to this season’s cameo performances.
As usual, the 49th season of Saturday Night Live was packed full of cameos, some lasting just a few seconds while others went on for several minutes. In all, 48 well-known individuals made unannounced speaking or singing appearances over the course of the season, and eight of them (including four of the season’s hosts) were seen in multiple episodes. Scroll down to see who among the group got the most (and least) screen time.
Nine of the 48 cameos were by unannounced guest artists who performed alongside the show’s musical guests. Also included in this list are another 10 credited musical guests who participated in at least one live or pretaped sketch. Their screen time here does not include musical guest segments (see our season-end musical guest rankings for those numbers) . All 58 entrants’ screen time percentages apply to their specific episode(s) rather than the whole season.
Our screen time data is calculated using a method that prioritizes face time, meaning that any contiguous (off-screen but in-scene) moments and practically all partial body appearances do not count. Screen time in opening credits, bumpers and goodnights are not included, nor do those portions factor into our assessment of each episode’s running time.
Justin Timberlake – 8:01 / 12.09%
Prior to taking the SNL stage for the sixth time as a musical guest on January 27, Timberlake was seen in two other segments. He first showed up for just under two minutes during host Dakota Johnson’s monologue and then racked up over six minutes as Robin Gibb in the seventh edition of “The Barry Gibb Talk Show.”
Jimmy Fallon – 6:48 / 10.25%
In his first SNL appearance since December 2020, former cast member Fallon joined Timberlake in both of Timberlake’s sketch appearances and later introduced the singer’s performance of “Selfish.”
Pedro Pascal – 5:55 / 9.46%
Pascal showed up to support October 21 host and musical guest Bad Bunny eight months after making his own Emmy-nominated SNL hosting debut. In addition to appearing during the monologue and introducing the “Monaco” music segment, he reprised his role as Ms. Suarez in “Protective Mom 2.”
Ariana Grande – 5:48 / 9.17%
Grande’s first SNL appearance in eight years consisted of two musical segments and three sketch performances. In addition to physically showing up in “People Pleaser Support Group” and “Moulin Rouge,” she sang “What Was I Made For?” off screen during “Sandwich King.”
Maya Rudolph – 5:03 / 7.67%
Before hosting the season’s penultimate episode, made three surprise performances on December 16. After appearing during host Kate McKinnon’s monologue, she was seen in “ABBA Christmas” as band member Björn, and in “Tampon Farm” as a harvester of feminine hygiene products.
Kristen Wiig – 5:00 / 7.59%
Also cameoing in Kate McKinnon’s December 16 episode was fellow former cast member Wiig. Wiig’s hosting stint later in the season made her the second Five-Timers Club member inducted during Season 49, after Emma Stone on December 2.
Billie Eilish – 4:52 / 7.39%
In addition to singing “What Was I Made For?” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” as musical guest on December 16, Eilish appeared in two of the episode’s sketches. After taking a verse of McKinnon’s “Tampon Farm” song, she helped the host close out the show in the eighth iteration of “Whiskers R We.”
Kate McKinnon – 4:45 / 7.44%
McKinnon returned almost four months after her hosting debut for April 13’s “Close Encounter” cold open in which her classic character, Colleen Rafferty, recounted her most recent extraterrestrial experience. This constituted the veteran cast member’s eighth performance as the character since creating her in 2015.
Jon Hamm – 4:26 / 6.45%; 0.63%
Hamm first appeared along with eight other surprise guests during Wiig’s April 6 monologue and then joined her for two and a half minutes in the “Secretaries” sketch. Over a month later, he briefly showed up as himself in the season finale sketch “NYPD Press Conference.”
Scarlett Johansson – 4:13 / 6.67%
The Oscar-nominated wife of “Weekend Update” co-anchor Colin Jost appeared unannounced during the March 9 cold open to parody the widely ridiculed State of the Union rebuttal delivered by Senator Katie Britt. Apart from showing up during the goodnights in February 2023, she had not appeared on SNL since her sixth hosting gig in December 2019.
Emily Blunt – 4:04 / 6.37%
Blunt joined April 13 host Ryan Gosling during his monologue to promote their movie The Fall Guy and sing about their Barbenheimer rivalry. She had only ever been seen on SNL once before, as the host of an October 2016 episode.
Will Forte – 3:59 / 6.37%
Former cast member Forte was seen during Wiig’s monologue and two subsequent sketches. After showing up at the end of “Jumanji” as a sadistic train conductor, he gave his longest performance of the night as his old recurring character Hamilton in “Retirement Party.”
Fred Armisen – 3:35 / 3.65%; 2.08%
Armisen, who left the SNL cast in 2013 after 11 seasons, was included in Wiig’s monologue as well as “Retirement Party.” He was also seen on October 21 in the pretaped sketch “The Age of Discovery” alongside Bad Bunny.
H.E.R. – 3:35 / 5.77%
October 28 musical act Foo Fighters were supported during their performance of “The Glass” by H.E.R., who sang and played guitar. Her only prior SNL appearance was as a credited Season 46 musical guest.
Matt Damon – 3:26 / 5.49%
In his first SNL appearance since December 2018, Damon explained to host Wiig why his two hosting gigs should count for five and then took the stage (as himself) during “Retirement Party” to pay tribute to (and inadvertently embarrass) the guest of honor.
Tina Fey – 2:59 / 4.79%
Former cast member and head writer Fey returned on December 2 to present Emma Stone with her Five-Timers Club jacket. This marked the six-time host’s 22nd SNL cameo since leaving the cast at the end of Season 31.
Christopher Walken – 2:41 / 4.32%
Seven-time host Walken’s first SNL appearance in 15 years primarily involved him playing new Halloween character Papa Pumpkin opposite Mikey Day as President Joe Biden in the October 28 cold open. Later that night, he introduced Foo Fighters’ performance of “Rescued.”
Jerry Seinfeld – 2:34 / 4.03%
Seinfeld, who hosted SNL twice during the nineties, stopped by “Weekend Update” on May 4 to promote his new Netflix film, Unfrosted, by joking about his omnipresence across the media landscape over the preceding few weeks. He had last been seen on the show during the Season 43 finale, hosted by Tina Fey.
Caitlin Clark – 2:20 / 3.65%
Record-smashing Iowa Hawkeyes player Clark visited “Weekend Update” on April 13 to confront Michael Che about his history of jokingly belittling women’s sports. She ended up being only one of four non-credited performers to appear during the news segment this season.
Mick Jagger – 2:19 / 3.70%
The Rolling Stones frontman’s seventh SNL appearance (and first since 2012) consisted of two October 21 sketch performances. After showing up in “Telenovela” as an actor playing the passionate father of two feuding brothers, he was seen in “Convent Meeting” as a man hiding out amongst a group of nuns.
Candice Bergen – 2:15 / 3.61%
Bergen joined Fey in welcoming Emma Stone to the Five-Timers Club during her December monologue. The Murphy Brown star was inducted in 1990 as the club’s first female member, and fifth member overall.
Paul Rudd – 2:15 / 3.60%
Like Damon and Armisen, Rudd’s latest SNL guest spot consisted of an appearance in Wiig’s monologue and a cameo in “Retirement Party.” He stood out from the rest of the episode’s surprise performers in that he, like Wiig, is a true member of the Five-Timers Club, having joined in December 2021.
Rema – 2:04 / 3.35%
Rema made his SNL debut in Season 49’s premiere episode, hosted by Pete Davidson. He was there to back up musical guest Ice Spice, with whom he shared the stage during a performance of their single “Pretty Girl.”
Rachel McAdams – 2:00 / 3.22%
McAdams, who had never appeared on SNL before, was seen twice toward the end of the January 20 episode hosted by Jacob Elordi. After introducing musical guest Reneé Rapp’s rendition of “Not My Fault,” she played the role of acting student “Natalie Partman” in “Acting School.”
Summer Walker – 1:58 / 3.09%
Walker joined February 24 musical guest 21 Savage for a rendition of “Prove It,” the studio version of which is his second song featuring her, following the 2020 single “Secret.” The pair are also known for their work with Usher on the 2023 R&B hit “Good Good.”
Tobe Nwigwe – 1:46 / 2.66%
Nwigwe joined Justin Timberlake on January 27 during his performance of the song “Sanctified.” This appearance came one year after the rapper was nominated for the Grammy for Best New Artist.
Playboi Carti – 1:36 / 2.54%
Carti made a surprise appearance on March 30 to help Travis Scott close out his performance of the song “Fe!n.” He had previously supported Nicki Minaj’s performance of “Poke It Out” in May 2018.
Martin Short – 1:33 / 2.48%
During Wiig’s monologue, former cast member Short lamented that he had not hosted the show since 2012, although he and Steve Martin did fulfill the duties together just last season. Between then and now, he showed up last April alongside Lorne Michaels to support host Molly Shannon.
Megan Thee Stallion – 1:22 / 2.20%
Megan Thee Stallion took the SNL stage for the fourth time in her career to feature in Rapp’s performance of “Not My Fault.” She had last been seen as the host and musical guest of an early Season 48 episode.
Julia Stiles – 1:13 / 2.00%
Stiles appeared (to rapturous applause) during December 9’s “Weekend Update” to perform choreography from the 2001 movie Save the Last Dance alongside cast member Chloe Fineman. She had not been seen on the show since she hosted in Season 26, two months after said film’s release.
Padma Lakshmi – 1:10 / 1.88%
The recently retired Top Chef host made her first SNL appearance on October 28. Introduced as a “culinary icon,” she showed up toward the end of the “Chef Show” sketch to present a reluctant cooking competition winner (host Nate Bargatze) with his prize package.
Chris Stapleton – 1:05 / 1.70%
Before fulfilling his musical guest duties for the third time, Stapleton primarily sang his way through the pretaped sketch “Get That Boy Back.” Airing on April 13, the segment revolved around a trio of scorned women, one of whom took an obsessive approach to teaching her boyfriend (Stapleton) a lesson.
Redman – 1:01 / 1.61%
Although he has maintained an active music career for more than 30 years, Redman had never even made so much as a cameo on SNL until Jennifer Lopez recruited him for her February 3 performance of “Can’t Get Enough.” The Def Jam rapper added an all-new verse to the song, which had been released in its original form almost a month earlier.
Sabrina Carpenter – 0:58 / 1.52%
Before season finale musical guest Carpenter took the stage to perform her songs “Espresso,” “Feather” and “Nonsense,” she made an unexpected appearance as teen sleuth Daphne in the pretaped sketch “Scooby-Doo.” Her costars included host Jake Gyllenhaal as Fred, Day as Shaggy, Sarah Sherman as Velma and Andrew Dismukes as the voice of their canine companion.
Lorne Michaels – 0:57 / 0.13%; 1.39%
SNL’s famed creator helped induct both of this season’s new Five-Timers Club members by making cameos during their monologues. Months after jokingly being referred to as Emma Stone’s husband, he was seen ostensibly handing out club jackets to celebrities who had not earned them.
Paula Pell – 0:57 / 0.63%; 0.85%
Pell, who wrote for SNL for 25 years, has made numerous appearances on the show since the mid-nineties. Her latest one on April 6 (as herself pretending to be a typical audience member) was preceded by her cameo in December’s “Tampon Farm.”
Olivia Rodrigo – 0:52 / 1.42%
After performing “Vampire” and “All-American Bitch” as December 9’s musical guest, Rodrigo made a single sketch cameo as a TV pitchwoman in “Tiny Ass Bag.” Her only preceding SNL appearance had been as a Season 46 musical guest.
Travis Scott – 0:50 / 1.32%
Scott’s March 30 musical guest stint involved performances of the songs “My Eyes” and “Fe!n” as well as a self-referential appearance in the Please Don’t Destroy short “We Got Too High.” He had last been seen on the show in October 2018.
Dave Grohl – 0:47 / 1.26%
In addition to performing with Foo Fighters during their ninth official SNL gig, Grohl took part in two October 28 sketches. He was first seen as an eccentric uncle in the pretaped “Lake Beach” and then showed up for a few seconds as an unhelpful flight passenger in “Airplane.”
Reneé Rapp – 0:46 / 1.23%
January 20 musical guest Rapp made her SNL debut one week after the release of her first movie, Mean Girls. Prior to singing “Snow Angel” and “Not My Fault,” she was seen in “Entertainment Tonight Lip-Readers” as a version of herself saddled with a court ordered media internship.
Latto – 0:38 / 1.01%
Latto’s unexpected SNL debut on February 3 came as less of a surprise than Redman’s, given her guest credit on the previously released remix of Lopez’s “Can’t Get Enough.” She was the second female rapper to perform this season, following premiere episode headliner Ice Spice.
Nikki Haley – 0:37 / 0.98%
Former presidential candidate Haley momentarily appeared as herself during the February 3 cold open, which ended with her delivering the show’s famous introduction. In her exchanges with James Austin Johnson Johnson (as Donald Trump) and host Ayo Edebiri (as a concerned voter), she poked fun at the ex-president’s advanced age and acknowledged her own campaign missteps.
Ryan Gosling – 0:36 / 0.96%
Gosling got a head start on his April 13 hosting gig by briefly stealing the spotlight during Wiig’s monologue. This marked his first SNL appearance of any kind since September 2017, when he hosted for the second time.
Barbara Corcoran – 0:35 / 0.88%
Longtime Shark Tank panelist Corcoran made her first SNL appearance on January 27. Her brief cameo occurred at the end of “Book Club,” which focused on a future Shark Tank contestant (Dakota Johnson) with a seemingly lackluster invention.
Brent Faiyaz – 0:32 / 0.84%
Right before launching into his and Walker’s three-minute performance of “Prove It,” 21 Savage spent about a minute showcasing a portion of “Should’ve Wore a Bonnet” with support from Faiyaz.
Boygenius – 0:30 / 0.79%
Boygenius first performed as SNL musical guests (as a group, that is) on November 11. Between their renditions of “Not Strong Enough” and “Satanist,” the trio showed up during the live “Troye Sivan Sleep Demon” sketch as clones of the titular singer.
Mark Cuban – 0:20 / 0.50%
Corcoran was joined in the “Book Club” sketch by Cuban, who has starred with her on Shark Tank since 2011. This also marked his very first SNL appearance and the only time any Shark Tank regulars had ever been seen on this show.
Glen Powell – 0:19 / 0.50%
Powell’s first of two very brief March 2 appearances occurred at the end of host Sydney Sweeney’s monologue as the Anyone But You co-stars addressed rumors of them being romantically involved. He then showed up toward the conclusion of “Loud Table” as Sweeney’s character’s charming boss who steals her from her boyfriend.
Greta Gerwig – 0:14 / 0.35%
Gerwig showed up on December 16 in support of McKinnon and Eilish, both of whom she worked with on Barbie. In addition to introducing the “What Was I Made For?” music segment, she made a very short, silent appearance in “Tampon Farm.”
Alec Baldwin – 0:13 / 0.34%
Having last been seen on SNL in November 2020 (in character as then recent presidential election loser Trump), Baldwin briefly appeared as himself at the end of the November 11 sketch “Calm Sleep Story.” This brought the actor’s career total of SNL episodes to 73.
Lady Gaga – 0:13 / 0.35%
Gaga returned to Studio 8H for the first time in seven years to introduce Bad Bunny’s October 21 performance of “Un Preview.” She had previously served as the show’s musical guest four times and hosted once.
Gina Gershon – 0:10 / 0.26%
Gershon’s March 2 cameo was her second on this show, with her first having occurred during the Season 25 finale. This time, instead of playing a fictional character, she appeared as a version of herself whose romantic obsession with Bowen Yang is revealed in “Bowen’s Straight.”
John Mulaney – 0:10 / 0.27%
Former SNL writer and five-time host Mulaney briefly played himself in this season’s premiere episode, which aired on October 14. His appearance occurred within the Please Don’t Destroy short “The Original Princes of Comedy,” in which the group’s members reminisced on doing stand-up shows with him when they were children.
Travis Kelce – 0:06 / 0.16%
Kelce holds the distinction of having been this season’s very first unannounced guest. Between his second and third Super Bowl wins, the Kansas City Chiefs player appeared at the end of the live October 14 sketch “Fox NFL Sunday.”
Taylor Swift – 0:06 / 0.16%
Also on October 14, Swift showed up to introduce Ice Spice and Rema’s performance of “Pretty Girl.” This marked her seventh SNL appearance and first since she served as a Season 47 musical guest with host Jonathan Majors.
Kaia Gerber – 0:05 / 0.13%
Gerber’s performance as an eerily flexible version of herself in April 6’s “Pilates” consisted of a single five-word line of dialogue. The supermodel and actress recently appeared in a recurring capacity alongside Wiig on Palm Royale.
Joan Grande – 0:05 / 0.13%
Ariana Grande’s second musical performance was introduced by her mother, who is known for having made cameos in the music videos for “Stuck With U” and “Positions.” At this point, half of Grande’s SNL music segments have included non-host lead-ins, as those in her 2016 episode were both introduced by Larry David.
Troye Sivan – 0:05 / 0.13%
Sivan, whose connection to May 4 host Dua Lipa dates back to when she opened for him on tour in 2016, introduced her performance of the song “Illusion.” The Australian artist, who was impersonated by November host Timothée Chalamet as well as Boygenius, had only made one earlier SNL appearance as a Season 43 musical guest.
