SNL host Ariana DeBose learns the limits of a fresh start in this week's promos

SNL host Ariana DeBose learns the limits of a fresh start in this week’s promos

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“You know what they say, ‘New year, new me,’” is how Saturday Night Live star and Emmy nominee Bowen Yang kicked off the previews for this week’s first new show of 2022.

Sporting a bleached blond ’do as evidence of his attempt to kick off the new year with a bang, Yang’s hopeful enthusiasm might be an echo of SNL’s as a whole since the show’s planned big finish of a Paul Rudd-hosted Christmas 2021 blowout was scuttled at the very last second by the Omicron variant.

Alongside this week’s host Ariana DeBose and musical guest Jack Antonoff of Bleachers, the newly blond Yang proclaimed his readiness for a whole new Yang (and SNL) for this first show of the third year under a global pandemic.

“So it’s mostly the hair?,” DeBose prodded, with Yang admitting that, yes, that’s pretty much all that’s actually new. Still, Yang’s been having a solid season so far (studio-emptying pre-Christmas bug-out notwithstanding), and DeBose, coming straight off her West Side Story triumph, looks ready and willing to inject the show with some Broadway-quality live energy.

In his review, A.A. Dowd notes of the scene-stealing singer and actor, “Ariana DeBose offers a rainbow of conflicting emotions as Sharks moll Anita, her brassy confidence shattering into heartbreak.” (Plus, anyone who had the guts to step into Rita Moreno’s dancing shoes is just the right choice to kick 2022 off with a bang.)

As for this week’s (fingers crossed) return to live comedy, it’s likely SNL will have plenty to say about the unprecedented, show day evacuation and resulting clip show that sent the 2021 half of Saturday Night Live’s 47th season off to an appropriately sputtering end.

Look for Kenan Thompson and Michael Che to lord it over everyone else that they were the only two cast members asked to stay behind on the belatedly abandoned and creaky ship that was episode 9. Plus, Kate McKinnon’s finally back from her Tiger King hiatus, meaning that—Omicron willing—there’ll be a full complement of comedy sailors on deck for DeBose hosting debut.

West Side Story, Ariana DeBose, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, More Win 2022 Golden Globes

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West Side Story, Ariana DeBose, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, More Win 2022 Golden Globes

The best film and TV of 2021, according to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, has been revealed as winners for the 2022 Golden Globes were announced January 9. Among them were West Side Story for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, along with the film’s stars Rachel Zegler and Ariana DeBose for Best Performance By an Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively.

Also taking home honors were tick, tick…BOOM! star Andrew Garfield for Best Performance By An Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy and Pose leading lady Michaela Jaé Rodriguez for Best Performance By an Actress in a Television Series - Drama. The latter has reportedly made history by becoming the first transgender performer to win the coveted award.

Other notable theatre alumni winning Golden Globes this year for their performances on screen were Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos), Tony nominee Jean Smart (Hacks), and Succession stars Jeremy Strong and Sarah Snook. Encanto, featuring songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, won Best Motion Picture – Animated and Kenneth Branagh took home Best Original Screenplay for his semi-autobiographical film Belfast.

As previously announced, the ceremony, always a lightning rod for conversation between the boozy annual ceremony and protests surrounding the HFPA’s equity and inclusion, was a subdued affair this time around. An untelevised press event announced the winners after NBC pulled the plug on an option to air following a report by The Los Angeles Times.

For a complete list of winners, click here.

Ariana DeBose, Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, and More Nominated For SAG Awards; Full List!

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The 2022 Screen Actors Guild Award nominations were announced this morning. Among those nominated are Andrew Garfield for tick, tick…BOOM!, Ariana DeBose for West Side Story, and Cynthia Erivo for Genius: Aretha.

The SAG Awards will air live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Feb. 27 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT from Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. Helen Mirren will receive the Life Achievement Award at the 28th annual ceremony.

Check out the full list of nominations below:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series

Murray Bartlett (“The White Lotus”)

Oscar Isaac (“Scenes From a Marriage”)

Michael Keaton (“Dopesick”)

Ewan McGregor (“Halston”)

Evan Peters (“Mare of Easttown”)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series

Jennifer Coolidge (“The White Lotus”)

Cynthia Erivo (“Genius: Aretha”)

Margaret Qualley (“Maid”)

Jean Smart (“Mare of Easttown”)

Kate Winslet (“Mare of Easttown”)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

Michael Douglas (“The Kominsky Method”)

Brett Goldstein (“Ted Lasso”)

Steve Martin (“Only Murders in the Building”)

Martin Short (“Only Murders in the Building”)

Jason Sudeikis (“Ted Lasso”)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

Elle Fanning (“The Great”)

Sandra Oh (“The Chair”)

Jean Smart (“Hacks”

Juno Temple (“Ted Lasso”)

Hannah Waddingham (“Ted Lasso”)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

“The Great” (Hulu)

“Hacks” (HBO Max)

“The Kominsky Method” (Netflix)

“Only Murders in the Building” (Hulu)

“Ted Lasso” (Apple TV Plus)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

Brian Cox (“Succession”)

Billy Crudup (“The Morning Show”)

Kieran Culkin (“Succession”)

Lee Jung-Jae (“Squid Game”)

Jeremy Strong (“Succession”)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

Jennifer Aniston (“The Morning Show”)

Jung Ho-yeon (“Squid Game”)

Elizabeth Moss (“The Handmaid’s Tale”)

Sarah Snook (“Succession”)

Reese Witherspoon (“The Morning Show”)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

“The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu)

“The Morning Show” (Apple TV Plus)

“Squid Game” (Netflix)

“Succession” (HBO)

“Yellowstone” (Paramount Network)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Caitríona Balfe (“Belfast”)

Cate Blanchett (“Nightmare Alley”)

Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story”)

Kirsten Dunst (“The Power of the Dog”)

Ruth Negga (“Passing)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Ben Affleck (“The Tender Bar”)

Bradley Cooper (“Licorice Pizza”)

Troy Kotsur (“CODA”)

Jared Leto (“House of Gucci”)

Kodi Smit-McPhee (“The Power of the Dog”)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”)

Olivia Colman (“The Lost Daughter”)

Lady Gaga (“House of Gucci”)

Jennifer Hudson (“Respect”)

Nicole Kidman (“Being the Ricardos”)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Javier Bardem (“Being the Ricardos”)

Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Power of the Dog”)

Andrew Garfield (“Tick, Tick … Boom!”)

Will Smith (“King Richard”)

Denzel Washington (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

“Belfast” (Focus Features)

“CODA” (Apple Original Films)

“Don’t Look Up” (Netflix)

“House of Gucci” (MGM/United Artists Releasing)

“King Richard” (Warner Bros)

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

“Black Widow”

“Dune”

“The Matrix Resurrections”

“No Time to Die”

“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series

“Cobra Kai”

“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”

“Loki”

“Mare of Easttown”

“Squid Game”

VIDEO: Ariana DeBose Talks SNL, HAMILTON & More on THE TONIGHT SHOW

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Ariana DeBose sat down with Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show last night to discuss her upcoming Saturday Night Live hosting debut.

DeBose also discussed her role as “The Bullet” in Hamilton, filming The Prom with Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman, and playing Anita in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. Watch the interview below!

Ariana DeBose was recently seen as Alyssa Green in Ryan Murphy’s film adaption of The Prom on Netfilx and in Apple’s musical series Schmigadoon!

She received a Tony Award nomination in 2018 for her performance in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. DeBose was also seen on Broadway in Hamilton, Pippin, A Bronx Musical, Motown, and Bring It On.

DeBose’s other television credits include So You Think You Can Dance, Blue Bloods, and The Breaks.

Halle Berry remembers her idol Sidney Poitier, Ariana DeBose says ‘SNL’ will be a “surprise,” and more – Everett Post

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As Hollywood continues to mourn the late Sidney Poitier, Halle Berry wrote a tribute to her idol for Variety.

As a biracial child, she said watching Poitier in the 1967 classic, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, about an interracial couple, changed her life. “For the first time in my childhood, I felt seen. Understood. Validated,” she wrote.

Halle will also never forget interviewing the iconic actor when she starred in the 1999 film, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. “I can’t imagine anyone other than you bringing my dear friend Dorothy to the screen,” he told her. “You embody the essence of who she was.”

In 2002, when Berry became the first Black woman to win an Oscar for Best Actress for her role in Monster’s Ball, Poitier was in the balcony.

“History will remember Sidney as a giant of the screen, a legendary actor and director, a performer whose enormous talents were eclipsed only by his kindness,” she continued. “I will forever see him as the angel in the balcony watching over all of us.”

In other news, West Side Story star Ariana DeBose tells Entertainment Tonight it’s an “overwhelming and wonderful” feeling to be nominated for a SAG Award for Female Actor in a Supporting Role. DeBose recently won a Golden Globe Award for the film, and now she’s focusing on hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend.

“I still have no idea what I am doing and I probably won’t know until we go live, so it will be a surprise to me and you,” she says.

Finally, Deadline reports that Jada Pinkett Smith will star in Redd Zone for Netflix. Based on a true story, the film tells the story of a single mother helping her sons and their high school football teammates heal after the murder of their best friend.