Bowen Yang made his on-camera debut on the first episode of Season 45, with Vanity Fair‘s Karen Valby noting then that “the show’s first East Asian cast member was saddled with a dispiriting first line of ‘Wazzzzzzup!’ as Kim Jong-un, who [once and future President Donald Trump] called for advice on getting rid of whistleblowers.” But he quickly hit his stride, creating iconic characters such as Chinese trade rep Chen Biao, whose “a tariff is like a tax but it’s a little bit bitchy” was a chillingly prescient quip when uttered in 2019.
With Yang’s Wicked and Wicked: For Good cast mate Grande in the host slot for the third time Saturday, Yang’s decision to make the last SNL of 2025 his final turn already feels poetic in its symmetry—and then there’s musical guest Cher, who Yang has attempted to lure to the show for years. “I would do anything with her,” Yang said of the icon in 2022.
Those seated in Studio 8H were clearly clued in on tonight’s news: When Yang joined Grande on stage during her monologue (a gift frustration spin on “All I Want For Christmas”), the cheers threatened to drown out the singing. There was a similar uptick in audience energy when Yang appeared oh-so-briefly in a pre-taped take on Home Alone. In the SNL version, Grande’s Kevin failed to remove his booby traps before his family’s return, leading to (among other gory disasters) Yang’s double amputation.
