Lin-Manuel Miranda Reprises ‘Hamilton’ Role, Gets Interrupted by Trump in ‘SNL’ Cold Open: Watch
Lin-Manuel Miranda made a surprise return as Alexander Hamilton during a cameo on Saturday Night Live.
The NBC sketch comedy show’s cold open on Jan. 25 featured Miranda reprising his iconic Hamilton role in a hilarious spoof of the U.S. founding fathers signing the Declaration of Independence.
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The nearly seven-minute sketch began with Miranda, dressed in full Hamilton attire, joining his fellow statesmen as he rapped about America’s future.
“What matters is the nation we build,” the Tony winner rapped. “Because in America, all men are created equal. America, not England. We’re doing the sequel. And we will have leaders, but no one thing. In America we will never have a king.”
The Broadway star’s performance was interrupted by SNL cast member James Austin Johnson, who impersonated Donald Trump. Johnson’s Trump took the spotlight, boasting about becoming the 47th president.
“Never say never,” Johnson’s Trump said as Miranda and the other founding fathers froze in place. “Kidding of course, though many ways I’m not. I’m in my king era.”
He continued, “But just like the founding fathers, I am creating a new country as well. And just like them, we’re doing it very whitely. DEI is over. It’s dead. Workplaces must go back to looking like the TV show The Office: mostly white people but with one funny Black guy who is having a really bad time.”
After making a playful jab at Trump’s 18-year-old son Barron, Johnson’s Trump declared his second inauguration a “tremendous success,” saying, “It was inside due to cold and fear. But we had a lot of surprise guests. Like Melania. That was nice.”
The president then took aim at Miranda, teasing him for being “tricked into coming here and now he’s frozen on stage.”
“Oh, look at Lin,” Johnson’s Trump said, mocking Miranda’s stillness. “Look at how bad he wants to do a rap. He wrote a whole rap and he doesn’t get to do it. Oh, the audience would have eaten that up. But we’re not gonna hear it.”
Getting closer to Miranda’s frozen Hamilton, Johnson’s Trump taunted, “He’s in sniffing distance of an EGOT and he’s got to stand there until I’m done.” Miranda finally broke character, cracking a smile as Trump continued, “Lindy, Lindy, Lindy, Lindy. Laura Linney. Lin-Manuel Miranda Cosgrove. There he is.”
Saturday’s episode also featured Timothée Chalamet, star of the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, pulling double duty as both host and musical guest. You can catch recaps of his monologue here and his musical performances here.
Watch SNL‘s “Founding Fathers Cold Open” below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes.
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