Talk about a team player.
Mike Diva, the film director for Saturday Night Live, mentioned last month that his sole request to Ariana Grande was for an over-the-top violent parody of the Christmas classic Home Alone.
“Ariana was all in, saying, ‘I want as much blood as possible. I want it to be like Carrie in the end,'” the 38-year-old director noted in an interview. The sketch was released on Thursday.
Colin Jost, the co-host of “Weekend Update” who also starred in the parody, commented, “She was genuinely excited about getting splattered with blood.” The skit aired during the December 20 episode of SNL, with Grande hosting and pop legend Cher as the musical guest.
In the sketch, Grande took on the role of Kevin McCallister originally portrayed by Macaulay Culkin, while SNL cast member Ashley Padilla played Kate McCallister, Colin Jost portrayed Buzz, and Bowen Yang was Fleur McAllister.
However, unlike the classic film, this version displayed disastrous booby traps that went horribly wrong. “We aimed to incorporate some authentic booby traps,” Jost explained in a behind-the-scenes take. “We thought perhaps Kevin might set up even more violent traps that we didn’t see.” He even joked about how Buzz McAllister resembled him in eighth grade.
The parody had some light-hearted moments as well. Grande humorously teased Jost about his outrageous costume, while Padilla expressed admiration for O’Hara’s performance in the original film, saying it inspired her to want a role in a Christmas movie herself.
In the “Behind the Sketch” segment, Diva also highlighted Yang’s contribution to the parody, noting this was one of his final performances before leaving the show after seven seasons. “For Bowen’s arm to fly off and blood to splatter everywhere—it really takes a village,” he added with a laugh, calling it an emotional wrap-up for Yang’s time on the show.
Yang discussed his departure from SNL on his podcast and said he felt it was the right moment to step back. Though he admitted to some reluctance about returning, he concluded that it turned out to be one of the most meaningful experiences he’s had.
