Dylan O’Brien is ready for his SNL era. The actor, who’s best known for his starring roles in Teen Wolf and the Maze Runner movies, stopped by Late Night with Seth Meyers on Thursday to talk about playing Dan Aykroyd in Saturday Night.
Before welcoming O’Brien onto the show, Meyers unveiled a never-before-seen clip of the upcoming film, which chronicles the chaotic 90 minutes leading up to the iconic NBC show’s 1975 premiere. In the scene, Aykroyd and his fellow SNL cast members try to calm down a stoned Neil Levy (Andrew Barth Feldman) before they go live.
“It’s a potent dragon you’re riding there, kid,” Aykroyd warns Levy through a dressing room door. “What you smoked was a sacred strain from the Isaan Plateau of Thailand, I believe. Make no mistake about it, that stick’s probably stronger than a bull elephant.”
When Levy finally opens the door in a panic, Aykroyd reassures the young talent coordinator that he was only kidding. “We’ll fix you up with some amphetamines,” he cheerfully declares. “You’ll be fine.”
Speaking to Meyers on Late Night, O’Brien shared that while he and Aykroyd “mutually decided not to speak” ahead of filming (director Jason Reitman discouraged the cast from reaching out to their real-life counterparts), the SNL alum has publicly wished him well.
“At the Ghostbusters premiere, [Aykroyd] was asked about my casting,” O’Brien said. “And he’s like, ‘Well, I’m just glad the young actor’s got work.’”
While his deadpan delivery earned laughter from the audience, O’Brien was quick to clarify that he really did appreciate Aykroyd’s words. “Which I loved,” he added. “If anything, it made me feel really… connected to him as far as, you know, our inner souls.”
“I think it really speaks to the sweetness,” Meyers said, “like down to the studs. Dan Aykroyd is genuinely just happy people are working.”
Saturday Night had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on September 1 and screened at the Toronto International Film Festival shortly afterwards. The film will see a platform release, debuting in New York City, Los Angeles, and Toronto on September 27, one night before SNL’s landmark 50th season kicks off. It will then have a limited theatrical release on October 4, followed by a wide release on October 11 (exactly 49 years to the day since SNL broadcast its very first episode).
