“Saturday Night Live” showed which actors couldn’t quite make the cut for “Wicked” in a sketch featuring a variety of fake celebrity auditions for the upcoming film.
On Nov. 16, the late night sketch comedy show featured Charli XCX, who served as first-time host and musical guest for the third time. The episode included a sketch that featured “never before seen screen tests” of actors auditioning for “Wicked.”
To kick things off, Chloe Fineman broke out her JoJo Siwa impression for the occasion, recreating the look from her “Karma” music video with a couple of Glinda touches, including pink tulle, sparkly accents, and face glitter.
After belting out some lines from “Popular,” Fineman delivered the line, “I may be a good witch, but I’m still a bad girl.”
Charli XCX portrayed a care-free Adele for her audition, wearing an off-the-shoulder gown as she walked into frame and immediately asked if she could take her shoes off. When she got the green light, she kicked off her high heels and said, “wicked.”
“Oh my god, I said the name of the bloody movie! Shut up, that’s f—— funny,” Charli XCX said before she started to cackle at her own joke.
Other auditions included Devon Walker as Shannon Sharpe, Bowen Yang as Fran Lebowitz for the role of Madame Morrible, Fineman as Sydney Sweeney, Sarah Sherman as Bernie Sanders for the Mayor of Munchkinland, and Marcello Hernández as Sebastian Maniscalco for Doctor Dillamond.
Fineman appeared again, this time as Martha Stewart donning a gold jacket and holding a broomstick in one hand.
“Some people are born wicked, while others have wickedness thrust upon them,” Fineman said in Stewart’s signature deadpan delivery. “You know, someone thrust upon me once, a wonderful Irishman.”
Yang reprised his Charli XCX impression from earlier in the season alongside the singer herself, who portrayed her “Sweat” tour co-headliner Troye Sivan from his “Got Me Started” music video. The dynamic duo auditioned for the roles of Glinda and Elphaba.
“Can I call you Elphie?” Yang asked, to which Charli XCX replied in an Australian accent, “No.”
Yang continued reading lines, adding, “I only bullied you because I’m a b—- and you’re a witch? I’m confused.”
“I’m not a witch,” Charli XCX clarified. “I’m a top.”
The sketch continued with more auditions, including Dana Carvey as Al Pacino, Fineman as Leslie Mann for Glinda, Hernandez as Bad Buddy, and Ego Nwodim as Janet Jackson, who immediately said that she didn’t “want to be in this” after hearing what the audition was for.
In true “Wicked” fashion, the sketch concluded with everyone trying to hit Elphaba’s note at the end of “Defying Gravity,” which consisted mostly of yelling and some wine drinking for Charli XCX’s Adele.
A failed auditions sketch is tradition for “SNL,” which previously created fake celebrity auditions for movies including “Back to the Future,” “Star Wars,” “Top Gun,” “Jurassic Park,” and more.
Last season in November 2023, the show also featured a sketch of celebrities auditioning to read the audio version of Britney Spears’ memoir, “The Woman In Me,” which ultimately went to Michelle Williams.
The sketch featured Chloe Fineman doing her Timothée Chalamet impression, Sarah Sherman as John Mulaney, and former cast member Molly Kearney as the Kevin James meme.