Glen Powell used his Saturday Night Live debut to settle a four-year-old score with a UPS driver.
The Chad Powers actor, 37, revealed during his monologue on Saturday, November 15, that he was originally supposed to make his SNL hosting debut in December 2021 to promote Top Gun: Maverick. Unfortunately, the booking was cancelled when the Top Gun sequel was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic — and Paul Rudd was brought in to host that year’s SNL Christmas episode instead.
At the time, Powell was especially disappointed to have lost the Saturday Night Live hosting gig because he’d already told a UPS driver about it.
“When I got the call [to host SNL], I was on a porch with my family and we just all lost our minds,” Powell remembered. “We were jumping up and down, celebrating. A UPS driver happened to be delivering a package at that exact same moment.”
Powell encouraged the delivery driver to “tune in” for the Christmas episode and even took a selfie with him to celebrate.
“My dream got taken away,” the actor explained. “Top Gun got delayed because of COVID so SNL had to take their offer back. [Producer] Lorne Michaels called me and said — these are his words — ‘Without Top Gun, no one will know who the F you are!’”
He admitted that it bothered him for the past four years that “this UPS driver was just going around saying Glen Powell is a liar.” When SNL finally rebooked Powell to host the show, the actor enlisted his sisters to help him find the UPS driver.
“My sisters tracked him down because the women in my family are terrifying,” he confirmed. “They found the cell number of this UPS guy. His name is Mitch. So, to prove to Mitch that I am not a liar, I flew him all the way to New York — [in] coach because I don’t know how Running Man is going to do yet. … He thought it was a scam but he still came!”
The camera then cut to Mitch in the front row of Studio 8H, as Powell asked the audience to “give it up for Mitch the UPS guy.” He then brought Mitch on stage to recreate their original selfie to bring their story “full circle.”
“If I have learned anything, it is that the best things in life don’t happen overnight,” Powell told viewers. “And no one knows that better than UPS.”
Prior to making his debut on the sketch comedy series, Powell revealed to People that it was a lifelong dream to appear on Saturday Night Live.
“I’m so excited,” Powell. “Hosting SNL has been a thing I’ve wanted to do my entire life.”
He continued, “It’s a really wonderful moment when your childhood dreams get to come true. I’ve been waiting to be on that stage for as long as I can remember.”
Saturday’s episode also saw Powell team up with former SNL cast member Will Forte for a new series of MacGruber sketches, plus musical guest Olivia Dean performed her hits “Man I Need” and “Let Alone the One You Love.”
Saturday Night Live’s next new episode airs Saturday, December 6, on NBC at 11:30p.m. ET with guest host Melissa McCarthy and musical guest Dijon. Classic episodes are available to watch anytime on Peacock.
