‘SNL50’: Meryl Streep Joins Kate McKinnon In ‘Close Encounter’ As Pedro Pascal & Woody Harrelson Crack Up
The SNL50: The Anniversary Special on Sunday brought back Kate McKinnon’s signature Colleen Rafferty alien abductee character in a special edition of the popular recurring sketch “Close Encounter” with a surprise appearance by Meryl Streep as her mom, Mrs. Rafferty. It marked the Oscar winner’s first time on the SNL stage.
In addition to McKinnon, also back was SNL alumna Aidy Bryant as one of two specialists interviewing a trio, including Rafferty, who all claimed that they had been abducted by aliens. This time, the other two were played by Pedro Pascal and Woody Harrelson, with Jon Hamm as a Space Force general conducting the interview alongside Bryant.
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Rafferty acknowledged her repeat abductions, all of which somehow involved her only being dressed from the waste up. “Only other place I have been pant-less five times is Six Flags,” she deadpanned.
As usual, Rafferty’s account of her abduction differed drastically from the accounts of the other two interviewees, with her being violently grabbed, leading to the loss of her pants, and then very closely examined.
Also typical for a Close Encounter sketch, her scene partners could not keep a straight face once McKinnon, as the cigarette-puffing Rafferty, got to the part where she demonstrated on the other alleged abductees how the aliens took a closer look at her private parts.
Pascal and Harrelson both cracked up. Still, they did admirably well compared to former “Close Encounter” co-star Ryan Gosling, who completely broke character on three separate occasions.
What was unexpected was Steep joining the group as Colleen’s mom, Colleen Sr., aka Mrs. Rafferty, who claimed she was also abducted alongside her daughter.
Explaining her tardiness with a bathroom break where “No. 1 turned into No. 3,” Streep’s Mrs. Rafferty channeled her daughter with NSFW zingers like, “Us Rafferty gals, we’ve always attracted the freaks. For years, I thought Colleen’s father was part alien but turns out he was just uncircumcised.”
She told a similar abduction story to Colleen’s that also involved her ending up pant-less.
“As for underwear-wise, this devil wears nada,” she said, a nod to one of Streep’s most famous movies, The Devil Wears Prada. A little earlier, she also spoke of going “into the woods,” another reference to a Streep movie.
“A good mother could also be a bad girl,” she said at one point, turning to Pascal’s character, “What’s your name, mustache?”
Watch the video above.
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