With season 2 of “Atlanta” in full swing and “Solo: A Star Wars Story” coming out next month, Donald Glover will make his hosting debut on “Saturday Night Live” on May 5, the show announced early Sunday.
The actor-writer-director will also perform as the show’s musical guest in the guise of his Grammy-winning rapper alter-ego, Childish Gambino.
This marks Glover’s return to NBC after previously serving as a writer and guest star on the network’s hit comedy “30 Rock” as well as starring in the cult hit sitcom “Community.”
Mark your calendars! May 5!!!! #SNL pic.twitter.com/vKDX4gQJlX
– Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) April 15, 2018
Glover left “Community” midway through the show’s fifth season in 2013, citing a need for more independent projects. This led to his own series, “Atlanta,” on FX, a comedy that has already won him two Emmys and two Golden Globes.
Glover’s musical performance on “SNL” will be one of his final big performances as Childish Gambino, as he revealed at last year’s Governors Ball Festival in New York that he will be retiring from hip-hop after one more album. His 2016 album “Awaken, My Love!” went gold in America and earned a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year.
Glover will play the famed smuggler Lando Calrissian in “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” which will reveal how the future head of Cloud City first met Han Solo. Glover will also play Simba in the 2019 live-action remake of “The Lion King.”