Olivia Rodrigo brought the laughs (and proved her style star status) when she made a surprise appearance in a Saturday Night Live sketch.
The singer, 20, served as the musical guest for the Saturday, December 9, episode of the NBC sketch comedy series, while Adam Driver hosted. In addition to performing her songs “Vampire” and “All-American Bitch,” Rodrigo joined Driver, 40, for the “Tiny Ass Bag” skit.
Driver and SNL cast members Marcello Hernandez and Ego Nwodim played boutique employees, encouraging shoppers to trade their oversized purses for smaller options that can only hold one item. Rodrigo played their coworker, popping up at the tail-end of the scene.
“My name is Georgina and I don’t have a last name. It’s Georgina and that’s it,” the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series alum quipped with an accent. “We also have a carry-on option. This one is so small, it can only fit your secrets — and that’s it!”
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Rodrigo gave Hernandez, 26, and Nwodim, 35, hugs when the sketch wrapped before SNL cut to a commercial break.
Rodrigo previously made her SNL debut in May 2021, when she performed “Drivers License” and “Good 4 U” as a first-time musical guest. While fans hoped to see her in a sketch at the time, she later revealed that her anxiety about taking the famous Studio 8H stage got the better of her.
“SNL was actually, like, my second performance ever. My first performance was the BRITs in [the] U.K., which was insane, and my second one was SNL, so I was so nervous and I was like, ‘I don’t really wanna do any sketches. I’m just so nervous to do my songs,’” she explained in a SiriusXM interview later that month. “I don’t know if they had any in mind for me or not, but hopefully I get to go another time and definitely that would be something that I’d love to do.”
Two years later, Rodrigo’s August 2023 Vogue cover story recounted her emotions behind the scenes of her SNL performance, as journalist Jia Tolentino described that Rodrigo “had never been more scared in her life than she was in the dressing room, that she was literally crying from nerves.”
While Rodrigo expertly made it through her second stint as musical guest, her friend Billie Eilish will take on the role during the next episode, which airs on Saturday, December 16. Last month, Eilish, 21, spoke candidly about her unique bond with Rodrigo.
‘Saturday Night Live’ musical guest Olivia Rodrigo performs ‘All-American Bitch’ on December 9, 2023. Will Heath/NBC
“I think everybody’s experiences are so individual,” Eilish told the Los Angeles Times in November. “Nobody has had anybody else’s life, you know? But I do feel a protectiveness over Olivia.”
Eilish went on to reveal that she wrote a song about Rodrigo, alluding to the pressures of young fame. “I have a song called ‘Goldwing’ from my last album that’s kind of about her,” she noted. “I’ve never said that to anyone. It’s not only about her. I was just thinking about her when I was writing it. She was coming up, and she was younger than me, and nobody had ever been younger than me.”
Like Rodrigo, Eilish became an overnight success when she was still a teenager, so she felt a kinship to her fellow artist. “Olivia was getting big, and she was just, like, this little dainty child,” she recalled. “I felt so nervous. I was worried about her. She came up in that acting world, and people are so weird. I don’t know — I just felt very protective over her. And I feel that way to everyone.”
Saturday Night Live airs on NBC Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET.