No time to die, but plenty of time for sketch comedy, apparently: Daniel Craig made multiple surprise appearances during Rami Malek’s Saturday Night Live hosting debut over the weekend.
Given how the two shared relatively little screen time in the latest James Bond flick, perhaps the co-stars had some unfinished business, as Craig faced off against Malek once again ― this time for the role of Prince in a very nonexistent Jordan Peele biopic.
In the sketch, Malek first appears alongside Kenan Thompson, both of them in dueling Prince outfits. The two, playing themselves, audition for the film while Peele (Chris Redd) and casting directors (Punkie Johnson and Ego Nwodim) look on appraisingly.
Both Prince impressions are inarguably terrible, but the group ultimately decides that Thompson is right for the part. “I’m sorry,” Redd’s Peele says. “I just don’t think I can cast a white guy to play Prince.”
“But my parents are from Egypt, right? And that’s in Africa,” Malek replies. “Doesn’t Prince, like ― doesn’t he transcend race?”
And just like that, Craig, also playing a doofy version of himself, enters the room to steal the part out from under both of them. Clearly misunderstanding the assignment, the British actor is dressed as a full-blown medieval prince instead of the legendary musician, but he auditions anyway.
After a few guitar licks and a major Craig charm offensive, the sketch ends with Peele telling the actor, “That was bad, but you’re James Bond, so you got the part.”
Craig also popped up in a later sketch alongside Cecily Strong, with the two playing a couple who attend a performance by the European (or... something) singer Angelo (new featured player Aristotle Athari). Soon enough, Malek, as the avant-garde performer “Todd,” joins Angelo on stage to showcase some increasingly bizarre improvisational dance moves.
Craig has hosted Saturday Night Live twice, most recently in March 2020 ahead of the release of No Time to Die, which finally came out this month after being long-delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
But this weekend was Malek’s first time at bat, and the two co-stars celebrated as such, with the Bohemian Rhapsody actor jumping into Craig’s arms during the closing moments of the show.