Matt Damon’s surprise appearance as Judge Brett Kavanaugh during the cold open of the season premiere of “Saturday Night Live” came together quick by even the NBC show’s standards.
According to a report in Vulture on Monday, it was Weekend Update co-anchor and co-head writer Colin Jost’s idea to have Damon play Kavanaugh in the sketch that lampooned the SCOTUS nominee’s contemptuous Senate hearing. Jost ran it by Damon after midnight on Friday, and Damon arrived in New York at around 4 p.m. Saturday for rehearsals, leaving the Oscar winner less than eight hours to prepare.
The sketch began with Damon as Kavanaugh screaming his opening remarks. “I’m gonna start at 11! And I’m gonna take it to a 15 real quick!” he yelled mockingly.
From there, Damon echoed much of Kavanaugh’s actual comments, though with a twist. Damon repeatedly brought up the nicknames of Kavanaugh’s real high school friends, though he also added a few, like “Donkey Dong Doug,” “Handsy Hank” and “Gang Bang Greg.”
The sketch also included Kavanaugh’s general hostility toward the Democrats on the committee, as well as his repeated confessions of love for beer. “I’m a keg is half full kind of guy. But what I’ve seen from the monsters on this committee makes me wanna puke, and not from beer,” Damon said.
The 13-minute sketch also saw former castmember Rachel Dratch return to play Sen. Amy Klobuchar. “SNL” cast current cast members in the bit included Kate McKinnon as Lindsey Graham, Cecily Strong as Dianne Feinstein, Alex Moffat as Chuck Grassley, and Aidy Bryant as prosecutor Rachel Mitchell.