Aidy Bryant Says the ‘Anora’ Hunks Might Be This Year’s Charles Melton
Before Aidy Bryant takes the stage this Saturday for her triumphant return to hosting the Spirit Awards, she got the ultimate onstage crash course. Bryant, an SNL castmember for 10 seasons, just wrapped a starring gig on the Broadway show All In (it was also her debut on the Great White Way). She went into the experience with a slight sense of unease but says that it wound up being a complete joy — thanks, in large part, to her veteran co-stars Andrew Rannells and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
“Lin gave me all the tips and tricks, like the secret routes to walk around Midtown, and I was really struggling with the bows,” she says. “In comedy, you finish your best joke and you’re like, that’s my time — and you get out. Or when you host an award show, at the end of it everyone just wants to get out of there. On Broadway, you finish the show and have to go back out and bow and I was really cringing doing it. Lin was like, it’s not about you, this is for the audience. Just let them thank you for your performance. I needed that. I felt like I was standing up there and modeling.”
More from The Hollywood Reporter
Here, Bryant previews her second annual Spirit Awards gig.
Let’s reflect back on last year’s hosting gig — were you nervous at all?
I think that part of me has died, and I’m grateful. It takes quite a bit to get me nervous these days. On my early days of SNL my hands would be shaking or I would feel ill. But being on the show burned off all my nerves. I was nervous to walk across the stage in my heels because I don’t want to eat shit.
What would you like to replicate from last year?
One thing I want to bring back is the concept that all of these people are going to so many award shows, so they’re going to hear so many jokes about the movies. So I took the pressure off myself to try and get after every nominated movie. I’m just trying to talk about topics that feel fun or funny. It’s very loose, people are there to have a good time, they’re day drinking. It’s a vibey event. I’m also having my same co-writers, Sudi Green and Fran Gillespie, come back. I wrote with both of them at SNL for years too, and they’re the best. Sudi is working on Loot and Fran is working on John Mulaney’s late night now, so it’s nice for us to get the chance to do this just like old times.
How glad are you that Emilia Pérez isn’t nominated and you can avoid touching that topic in your monologue?
I have to say, I haven’t paid the most attention to what the hell is going on, but I’m feeling like the headlines are flying and I’m getting the gist. And I’m saying, no problem, I’ll let them cover that on the other award shows. That’s for Conan.
You’ve been going to comedy clubs to work out bits for the monologue; how much does the audience reaction affect what makes it into the final script?
I’m always killing stuff that I like but that isn’t working onstage. Last year that whole stupid bitch bit was something that I was trying in standup, but it’s sort of hard because you’re saying “Hey, Natalie Portman” to a random audience member and not actually to Natalie Portman. So you’re doing a little bit of math about how well it’s working and why. And I will say that on the day, the nice thing about working with people from SNL is that we’re used to making changes at the last minute — so even as the show is going on we can make little tweaks. Unexpected things happen and you roll with it, and that gives it a bit of energy.
Everyone loved the bit about Charles Melton’s hotness last year. Who’s this year’s Charles Melton?
I mean, I feel like Anora has some hunks. Yura Borisov is a bit of a game-changer. But I’ll have to think about that, there’s a lot of cool people in this year’s movies. One thing I really love about this gig is doing the homework and watching them all. Film Independent really hooks it up with the links. But I did see a lot of them in theaters when they came out — Janet Planet really destroyed me. It rocked me down. I went to see it alone, during the day, and afterwards I was like I think I need someone to walk me home. I was shaken. I loved it.
Julio Torres, your former SNL coworker, is nominated for both Problemista and Fantasmas…
I’m doing everything in my power to pull every string to make sure Julio wins. And if he doesn’t I will absolutely ruin the show. But seriously, I love Julio and I feel very lucky that I was at SNL when he first started and got to be part of his early pieces. And what we did during my episode of Fantasmas was something we’d worked on at SNL that never went anywhere. I wish I had a proper list of all the sketches that got away, but I think they’re ghosts that haunt us.
What’s the most important element of your day-of-hosting routine?
Last year I felt so disconnected from the fact that we were at the beach. This year, especially after the fires, it feels nice that we’re going to be in Santa Monica. So I’m going to try to, at the very least, step outside for one minute. I don’t want to spend the entire day going from my hotel room to my trailer to the tent.
Best of The Hollywood Reporter
Sign up for THR's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Solve the daily Crossword
