Tom Hanks Hosts SNL At Home After Coronavirus Diagnosis

Tom Hanks has returned to host the first-ever Saturday Night Live at Home episode after he tested positive for coronavirus. Coldplay’s Chris Martin featured as the musical guest for the show.

Tom Hanks hosted the show with a cheery introduction from his Los Angeles home.

“Hey all you cool cats and kittens,” he said. “It’s me, your old pal. Don’t be afraid, this shaved head was just for a movie. My hair is growing back very slowly.”

Tom Hanks is starring in the Baz Luhrmann-directed film about Elvis Presley. It was during the filming of the same in Australia that Tom Hanks got diagnosed with coronavirus.

“Hey, it’s good to be here, though it is also very weird to be here. Hosting Saturday Night Live from home. It is a strange time to try and be funny, but trying to be funny is SNL‘s whole thing. So we thought, what the heck? Let’s give it a shot,” Hanks said. “But why me as host? Well, for one, I have been the celebrity canary of the coal mine for the coronavirus, and ever since being diagnosed, I have been more like America’s dad than ever before since no one wants to be around me very long and I make people uncomfortable,” he said.

He also made jokes about his time in Australia. “Now I was diagnosed back in March with the coronavirus. I was first diagnosed down in Australia. Now the folks in Australia are fantastic in every way but they use Celsius instead of Fahrenheit when they take your temperature,” he said. “So, when they come in and they say, ‘You’re 36,’ which seemed very bad to me. But turns out 36 is fine, turns out 38 is bad. So basically it’s how Hollywood treats female actors.”

The actor admitted that this Saturday Night Live at Home episode was the first time he had worn anything other than sweatpants since March 11.

“But now my wife and I are doing fine, doing great. We’re hunkered down, like all of us should be. In fact, this suit, this is the first time I’ve worn anything other than sweatpants since March 11. My wife had to help me put it on,” he said.

Tom Hanks also thanked frontline healthcare professionals, grocery store stockers and restaurant employees in his Saturday Night Live at Home monologue. He thanked “the men and women who are keeping this country going at the time when we need them more than ever before.”