Being friendly with an ex, and then bringing him out during the opening monologue to host your first “Saturday Night Live.”
The Braveest, Natasha Lyonne, cast the latter over the weekend as Fred Armen, whom she dated for seven years before their recent split, joining fellow “SNL” alum Maya Rudolph on stage over the weekend.
After commenting on the “cosmic connection” she feels with the late-night sketch show, Lyon, in a plunging-neck black catsuit, said, “The people here are my chosen family in real life.”
“I’ve been coming here since I was a teenager,” she continued. “I co-produced ‘Russian Dolls’ with Amy Poehler, and I have great friends from the show.”
That’s when both Armisen and Rudolph appeared on stage to workshop their impressions of the actor, whose calling card is his hoarse voice and thick New York accent.
“We make really good impressions about you, not just when you’re around,” Rudolph said.
“Congratulations, indeed,” said Armen, squinting his eyes and before adopting Leon’s signature drawl, Rudolph followed suit and said, “How are you? That’s a dynamite sweater… A-roach.”
Once the two left the stage, Leon joked, “You know, Freddie and I, we dated for seven years. We were the only couple who had a sex tape that nobody wanted to buy.”
The “Orange is the New Black” alum confirmed their split last month in an unconventional way, revealing that the two called it quits over a swimming pool dispute.
“I honestly think we broke up because I wanted a swimming pool,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “We love each other as much as two people can and we’re still talking all the time, but Freddy doesn’t like the swimming pool. It’s a mundane reason for the breakup.” Might sound like that, but during that pandemic, you’ve got your lap — I’m like Burt Lancaster in ‘The Swimmer.
Lyonne and Armisen were first linked in 2014 before making their first red carpet appearance together at the Emmy Awards the following year.
Rudolph actually played a key role in their love story, first introducing the two during a period Leon describes as a “rocky road” due to his struggles with substance abuse.
Later in her opening monologue, Leon stated that she has gone to “hell and back” since becoming a child actor, initially skyrocketing to fame and then developing a drug addiction.
“I brushed myself off, and I’m back on the ride. And now here I am,” Leon continued. “Okay, so I’m facing events, gleaned throughout the decades. But here I am, and I’ll tell you what I’ve found. There’s always hope in despair, and there’s always going to be a return to the ring and a And the day has a reason to fight.”
Lyon joined the musical guest Japanese Breakfast for the finale episode of the 47th season of the show.
The season finale also stood as a swan song for some longtime cast members, including Eddie Bryant, Kyle Mooney, Pete Davidson and Kate McKinnon, who bid farewell to the series during the episode’s emotional cold open.
Watch Leon’s monologue below.
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