Rewatch Pete Davidson as Rami Malek on SNL to prepare for the Oscar winner's hosting debut
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No Time to Die villain Rami Malek makes his Saturday Night Live hosting debut tonight, but it won't be the first time "Rami Malek" has appeared on the legendary comedy show.
Cast member Pete Davidson has depicted the Oscar-winning Bohemian Rhapsody star a few times over the years, much to fans' delight. Let's take a walk down memory lane ahead of this week's show, which will hopefully see the return of the Rami replica.
Saturday night live; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic Pete Davidson and Rami Malek
Davidson debuted his Malek impression during the season 42 premiere on Oct. 1, 2016, during a filmed sketch for a Mr. Robot commercial. In it, the comedian portrayed Elliot Alderson, Malek's Emmy-winning role on the USA techno-thriller that ran from 2015 to 2019, alongside then-castmate Leslie Jones, who was seeking help to find her website hacker.
It was Davidson's first episode as a newly promoted member of the repertory cast, his third season overall, and one of his first major impersonations after being mostly known for popping up as SNL's "resident young person" during "Weekend Update" or his dimwitted pool boy Chad (who became a recurring character). His portrayal of the Malek character earned praise from fans pointing out the physical similarities between the two actors, as well as from Malek himself.
"Cracked up last night. The #MRROBOT parody on @nbcsnl might even make Elliot laugh," the actor tweeted at the time from an account that has since been deleted and relaunched, but not verified as still belonging to him.
It was two more years before fans got another quick dose of Davidson as Malek in an Oscars host audition sketch during season 44. This time he played the actor instead of his TV character, and knocked it out of the park once again with a bulging-eyed portrayal of the low-key Malek going for "something fun and super-high-energy."
The last time we saw Davidson's Malek was two months later during a Family Feud parody, on Feb. 16, 2019, in which he once again excelled at the fine art of wide-eye humor, but Melissa Villaseñor ended up stealing the show with her incredible Lady Gaga impersonation.
Fingers crossed Davidson dusts off his impression for tonight's episode fronted by the real Malek to leave us all seeing double (or triple, as the actor has a twin brother).
SNL airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT on NBC.
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