For most celebrities, hosting "Saturday Night Live" is a dream come true. Actors especially seem to love the experience, with names like Ben Affleck, Emma Stone, Dwayne Johnson, Jonah Hill, and Jack Black having hosted the show as many as five times. There are even those who have hosted more than five times, such as Scarlett Johansson with seven gigs or Tom Hanks with ten. However, despite SNL being something of an A-list rite of passage, many incredibly famous people have never taken on the coveted hosting role. This list includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Viola Davis, Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington, Julia Roberts, and Tom Holland.
While DiCaprio has never hosted, he did make a hilarious guest appearance during Jonah Hill's third hosting monologue in 2014. Of the major names, it has always surprised fans that Holland has never hosted. He is multitalented, great at accents, and not afraid to be silly—his "Lip Sync Battle" episode is iconic. The big question is why he has never done it. Fans have speculated for a long time, and now we have some solid answers.
Chatting with SNL alum Amy Poehler on her "Good Hang" podcast, the 30-year-old Holland shared his valid apprehensions about stepping into Studio 8H as host. "I'm heavily dyslexic, which is one of the reasons why—and I'd love to talk to you today about it, actually—is why I've never done 'SNL'," he said, prompting Poehler to gasp. "Because of the cue cards?!" she replied.
For context, since its first episode in 1975, SNL has relied on cast members reading their lines from handwritten cue cards. Though seemingly outdated, the cue cards have been described as a "foolproof" way of avoiding other technical issues during the live broadcast. However, it does not work for everyone, particularly those with dyslexia like Holland.
"I'm so petrified at the concept of trying to read something, and then they change [it]," Holland told Poehler. "For me, I can read fine, but when I have to read out loud, it just becomes like a kind of—it's like a mental block, and I can freeze."
Interestingly, he explained how he manages his dyslexia in his day-to-day work as a movie star. "For me, my worst day at work is the read-through," he said. "I will really try and highlight everything and learn my lines ahead of time so that I'm more skimming it than I am reading it [in front of everyone]."
Returning to the SNL discussion, Holland confirmed that he has turned down multiple offers to host over the years. "I've been really lucky that they've asked me a few times to do it, and the truth is that I'm actually just really scared. I love the show, and I love the idea of having fun and making a fool of yourself in such a fun, creative way. It's just that thing of the cue cards."
While a few openly dyslexic celebrities, like Jennifer Aniston and Salma Hayek, have successfully hosted SNL, Holland would not be the first star to turn it down due to cue card anxiety. His Marvel colleague Mark Ruffalo shared similar comments in 2024, saying, "It scares me. I'm dyslexic… When I hear about how that show works, changing things at the last second, and I want to be good at it. I've been watching that my whole life, and like, I don't want to be the guy, the host who sucks. I owe Lorne Michaels more than that."
Funnily enough, Zendaya has never hosted SNL either, so perhaps she and Holland could do it together next season. Couples have hosted before. Lorne Michaels, if you are reading this…
Catch Holland on the latest episode of "Good Hang with Amy Poehler."
