Harry Styles brought new meaning to the term “double duty” on this week’s Saturday Night Live, making a surprise appearance during Ryan Gosling’s monologue just one week before he himself is scheduled to return to Studio 8H as both host and musical guest.
Taking to the show’s homebase to deliver his monologue, the bit saw Gosling quickly upstaged by Styles, sitting in the audience. After Gosling spotted him in the crowd, the camera repeatedly cut back to the singer—derailing Gosling’s attempts to talk about his new film, Project Hail Mary.
Leaning into the moment, Gosling eventually broke into a rendition of Styles’ hit “Sign of the Times,” awkwardly singing the song while the pop star was seated just a few feet away. By the end of the number, Gosling was joined on stage by “most of the cast”–not because, as he suggested, he’s “their favorite host of all time” but as Kenan Thompson admitted, because they wanted “to get a better look at Harry.”
Gosling put a button on the bit by tweaking the show’s traditional monologue sign-off with a nod to Styles’ upcoming return.
“We’ve got a great show… Gorillaz is here! Harry Styles is hosting next week! So stick around…”
Styles’ cameo continues a pattern for Gosling, who has welcomed a surprise guest during each of his last four SNL monologues. His previous appearances featured fellow Canadian Mike Myers in 2015, his La La Land co-star Emma Stone in 2017, and his Fall Guy co-star Emily Blunt in 2024.
Watch Gosling’s full monologue at the top of this post.
