This is no laughing matter.
“Saturday Night Live” alum Kevin Nealon slammed stars for breaking character during a sketch after Ryan Gosling’s recent hosting gig.
On March 7, Gosling, who is famous for breaking character when guesting on comedy shows, couldn’t hold back his laughter during the “Passing Notes” skit that was specifically designed to wow him.
However, Nealon was not amused by the incident, saying on X Tuesday, “I never broke character on ‘SNL.'” I knew how much time the screenwriters spent on those scripts.
“I don’t want to be the one who throws it away.[SNL creator]Lorne[Michaels]doesn’t want the cast to fall apart. Even if the audience laughs, it doesn’t help the skit.”
Nealon, who appeared on the show from 1986 to 1995, gave a nod to the famous 1990 Chippendales skit he co-starred with the late Chris Farley and Patrick Swayze.
The moment occurred during the final round of Chippendales auditions, where the actors had to take off their shirts to give their best performance for the hiring manager played by Nealon.
“If we can get past the Chippendales sketch,” he added. “I could overcome anything.”
In “Passing Notes,” Gosling plays a high school principal who is tasked with reading some embarrassing notes written by students with “SNL” star Ashley Padilla.
But before Padilla could read the first note, a warning flashed on the screen telling viewers, “The contents of these notes have changed since rehearsal.”
As a result, Gosling and Padilla laughed throughout the sketch, and the rest of the cast members tried to hide their smiles as well.
The “Project Hail Mary” star also broke out in character in “Wedding Tradition,” in which he played an eccentric wedding guest, and “Cyclops,” in which he played a clueless cyclops trying to unlock a treasure.
Earlier this month, Gosling referenced his reputation for breaking character on the Today show when Craig Melvin asked if the rest of the cast was going out of their way to make it difficult for Ryan Gosling to get together.
“First of all, one of the things they don’t tell you is that when you do ‘SNL,’ you don’t sleep for a week,” Gosling explained.
“When you get there,[you]end up working with people even though you’re really into it… They’re intentionally trying to destroy you, and you’re lucky if you don’t laugh,” he continued. “I don’t know. I know I should take comedy more seriously.”
The Oscar nominee, who has hosted “SNL” four times over the years, added, “I don’t know, but it’s – I can’t do it. It’s too difficult.”
