Did Ryan Gosling Break Character Too Much on 'SNL'?
The fine line between funny and excessive.
The song “Buenos Aires” plays a critical role in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Evita, propelling our protagonist into the thick of the action. “What's new Buenos Aires?/I'm new/I want to say I'm just a little stuck on you/You'll be on me too!” she boldly declares. By the song’s end, she’s made her way from Junín to the titular city, promising that we oughta know what we’re gonna get in her. What we’re gonna get, as it turns out, is a touch of star quality.
I’ve long been fascinated by what comprises this quality. Though we’re overcome with stars in the galaxy, few today possess the far more elusive star quality. That’s why instances of its existence (see: Lana Del Rey at Coachella or Conan O’Brien on Hot Ones as recent examples) hold all the more might. Ryan Gosling put his own star quality to the test while hosting the 17th episode of Saturday Night Live’s 49th season. But did that star quality ultimately help or hinder this unexpectedly polarizing episode of the long-running series?
In a break from the prototypical politics-themed cold open, the episode began with the return of Kate McKinnon (!!) as Colleen Rafferty, continuing a sketch that McKinnon and Gosling originated eight years ago and repeated two years after that. In every instance, Gosling has tried and failed to keep it together, breaking character while witnessing McKinnon’s hysterics. It would prove a specter for what was to come.
“Endearingly, Gosling broke again at least once during this one,” Variety wrote. It would go on to be not just once, but instead a theme throughout the entire night. It happened multiple times during the aforementioned “Close Encounter” as well as the second sketch of the night, “The Engagement,” and during the third, “Can’t Tonight.” And almost to the point of no return in “Beavis and Butt-Head.”
Then again in “Doctor.”
Did it happen during the night’s final sketch, “Erin Brockovich”? It sure did!
The next morning’s big headline?
LA Times: “On ‘Saturday Night Live,’ Ryan Gosling can’t stop cracking up as guest host.”
Deadline: “‘SNL’ Host Ryan Gosling Keeps Breaking Character & Cast Members Follow.”
The Wrap: “Ryan Gosling and ‘SNL’ Cast Can’t Stop Laughing, Barely Make It Through ‘Beavis and Butt-Head’ Sketch.”
Forbes: “SNL Cast Completely Loses It During Ryan Gosling ‘Beavis And Butt-Head’ Sketch.”
Pajiba: “Ryan Gosling Cannot Keep It Together For Even One Skit As Host of 'SNL'.”
And of course, the true sign of impact: The fancams dedicated entirely to every Gosling break in the episode.
What began in the opening sketch pervaded the entire night as Gosling seemed to present the question: Is breaking character a good thing or a bad thing? Let’s examine. Breaking character through fits of laughter is an SNL staple (see: “Debbie Downer, The Californians” or any time Stefon was on “Weekend Update” as prime examples). It’s deployed rarely, and when used, emphasizes the live “anything can happen!” component that makes the show so singular. The result creates a hat on a hat, if you will, allowing the audience to laugh at the joke and be coerced into laughing harder at the actors’ inability to contain themselves.
The best examples, in my opinion, are when the cast is able to maintain themselves despite the host losing it. For example, when Frank Zappa was forced into fits of laughter during a 1978 appearance, even spitting out his chips and beer, castmember Dan Aykroyd never for a moment broke, thus creating a tension that made the scene ever funnier.
A less successful, albeit memorable example, came in 2000 when Jimmy Fallon simply gave up on playing the character due to his uncontrollable laughter. “[SNL creator and producer Lorne Michaels] got mad all the time,” Fallon revealed years later. “No one likes when you break in the sketch. The writers don’t like it.”
But Bill Hader offered a different perspective when asked about it in 2012. “I apologized to Lorne after ‘Californians.’ I was like, ‘I’m so sorry.’ Because I laughed during dress, too. And I was like, ‘I’m so sorry. I just can’t do it.’ And he was like, ‘Who fuckin’ cares?’ His attitude is if what you’re saying and what’s happening isn’t funny and you’re laughing, then we have a problem.”
Kate McKinnon, meanwhile, offered a more nuanced perspective. “There's something unprofessional about it,” McKinnon told Vulture's Good Ones podcast in 2022 when asked about character breaking on the show. “Yet sometimes it was just too fun."
Still, I didn’t know where I came down on it. So I did what I often do, and I took to the IG Q&A feature to get people’s thoughts. Here’s a sampling of the response:
“I found it funnier BECAUSE he broke.”
“Him breaking makes it!!!”
“Actors breaking are usually what makes me laugh he most. It’s SNL. It’s fine.”
“I truly don’t care if the guest breaks or if the cast breaks. That means it’s funny!”
“I adore when comedy actors break. It’s contagious.”
“He’s a guest star on a sketch comedy show, not a comedy TV show. Breaking is half the fun.”
“Ryan’s going to break. You know what you’re getting. Love it!”
“I find it real.”
In all my DMs, it was overwhelmingly pro-break. But many of these responses did not address what I see as the crux of the conversation: How much breaking is too much breaking? While the collective goodwill for Gosling in a post-Barbie world had social media largely on his side, critics weren’t so generous. As Vulture’s Jesse Hassenger shrewdly pointed out: “To some extent, all of this must have been expected — even, I dare say, calculated… The dirty secret of SNL’s much-referred-to aversion to Carol Burnett Show-style on-air crack-ups is that it almost always plays great with the live crowd and probably many of the at-home viewers, too. But there is a line where all that in-studio glee turns self-indulgent.” The Los Angeles Times’s Omar L. Gallaga even went so far as to write that Gosling “torpedoed” the episode.
I did notice that the thrill of the break began to wane as the night went on. By the last sketch, the once-exciting felt audibly formulaic. It also called to mind the often overused Michelle Visage quote: “Stop relying on that body.” In this instance, I wondered if the power of the break was diluted by being too generously deployed. I also wondered if a host with less star quality repeatedly breaking would have been received the same way. I think there’s a version of the night with a less beloved host that is received as far more cringe or eye roll-inducing.
But this isn’t that version, Tamar!
Did Ryan Gosling break character too much on SNL? Survey says no! We rest our case.
In response to the criticism I simply say: they could never make me hate you, Ryan Gosling
I was so bothered by it 😭 I, in fact, found that it made it less funny. If I wasn't laughing aloud on my couch, seeing him break over something I don't find that funny was almost cringe. I also felt bad for the cast members because it felt like they felt a need to break too so as not to insult Ryan!!!!! I think the Beavis and Butthead saved it overall for me because Heidi's break was genuine and amazing. I am shook at your audience poll!!!???