A very bearded Casey Affleck, recent Golden Globe nominee and star of Manchester By the Sea, hosted Saturday Night Live on Dec. 17. After cracking jokes about his depressing recent films, Casey wondered why he was chosen to host SNL‘s Christmas episode.
It’s a good point: As Afflecks go, Casey doesn’t have much experience, while his brother Ben is part of the venerable five-timers club.
But Casey had nothing to fear. Alec Baldwin and John Goodman were on hand, fresh from cameos in the cold open, to help him out. “Between the three of us,” Goodman explained, “we’ve hosted SNL 31 times.”
Baldwin added, “We believe in you, just like we believe in another special guy with a beard. You might have heard of him: Black Santa Claus.” And Kenan Thompson in a Santa suit turned out to be exactly the Christmas magic Affleck needed to kick off the show right. God bless us, everyone.
Watch the video below.