Saturday Night Live may be a comedy show, but Teyana Taylor delivers a powerful performance in a just-released teaser for this weekend’s episode, which will see the Golden Globe winner make her hosting debut alongside musical guest Geese.
In the promo, Ashley Padilla is disappointed to learn castmate Andrew Dismukes ate her eggplant parm. Cocking an eyebrow, Taylor convinces Padilla to make Dismukes pay for the offense, kicking off a revenge sequence inspired by the 1995 film Waiting to Exhale.
Taylor does her best Angela Bassett in a nearly shot-for-shot remake of the iconic scene in which Bassett’s character burns her husband’s things after he leaves her for another woman.
One of Bassett’s most remembered lines — “732! 732! The number of times we made love!” — becomes a comment on Dismukes’ dressing room in Taylor’s version.
In this case, “732 stupid bobbleheads in this room!” Taylor shouts, focusing on Dismukes’ toys. (Technically, Dismukes’ shelves are full of Funko Pop! figures, not bobbleheads.)
“Bernadine, you don’t deserve this!” Taylor tells a confused Padilla at one point, referring to Bassett’s character from the aforementioned film.
Padilla stands by as Taylor continues to collect Dismukes’ belongings, then burn them in a wagon in the middle of the office. When Dismukes arrives, Taylor unleashes an expletive-laced threat on the parm thief, leaving him wheeling away the flaming wagon in defeat.
The promo is a mini tour de force performance for Taylor, who is widely expected to receive an Oscar nomination on Thursday for her performance in One Battle After Another. Last weekend, the actress took home a Golden Globe for the role.
As for Dismukes, he can start rebuilding his collection of figurines sooner rather than later. Earlier this month, a line of officially licensed SNL bobbleheads debuted.
Taylor’s turn as host goes down this Saturday, January 24. SNL will then close out the month with its 1,000th episode on January 31, featuring host Alexander Skarsgård and musical guest Cardi B.
