Connor Storrie Brings Out ‘Heated Rivalry’ Co-Star Hudson Williams in ‘SNL’ Debut

connor storrie made his Saturday Night Live debut in an episode that opened with a Trump-centered cold open about a new US war with Iran, and later featured the Heated Rivalry star’s monologue, a surprise Hudson Williams cameo and a Mumford & Sons performance.

Cold open confronts US-Iran events

The show returned from a short hiatus to find the US newly at war with Iran. From behind the presidential podium, Donald Trump, played by James Austin Johnson, wished “happy world war three to all who celebrate. ” Johnson’s Trump also claimed that “Iran has been two weeks away from developing a nuclear weapon [for, like, the last 15 years]” before weaving into the Temptations’ War with the line: “What is it good for? Distracting from the Epstein files!”

The sketch explained why the US should attack now with Trump saying: “We had to strike in the early hours of Saturday, which has two advantages militarily. One, it’s after the stock market closes for the weekend. And two, it’s to cause immeasurable fear, rage and chaos in the SNL writers’ room. ” He turned the mic over to “the man who I’m going to blame it on when it doesn’t work, ” defense secretary Pete Hegseth, played by Colin Jost. Hegseth stormed the podium, slammed a nonalcoholic Four Loko and demanded everyone “shut it, ” before admitting: “I am scared and I don’t know what I’m doing!”

Connor Storrie’s monologue

The 26-year-old actor, fresh off his breakout role in the unexpected hit series Heated Rivalry, entered after the cold open to loud cheers for his monologue. He joked, “Now, some of you may have seen all of me on my show Heated Rivalry, ” and added: “It’s a show that’s taught a lot people about hockey, and it’s taught a lot of straight women that their sexuality is actually gay men. ”

Storrie admitted he cried when he booked the show and reminisced about growing up wanting to be an actor, saying: “My mom would drive me hours to audition … she even drove me to this weird mall where they did this national kids talent contest, which I won hands-down in every category by doing a catwalk to It’s Raining Men with other children. ” On Heated Rivalry, Storrie plays Russian hockey player Ilya Rozanov.

Given that both American hockey teams just won gold at the Winter Olympics in Milan, Storrie brought Quinn and Jack Hughes from the U. S. men’s hockey team and Hilary Knight and Megan Keller from the U. S. women’s hockey team on stage. The men said they haven’t seen the show; the women assured Storrie they had. Knight quipped at Trump’s recent joke about inviting the women to the White House, “It was gonna be just us, but we thought we’d invite the guys too. ” The monologue touched on the clip of the men’s team laughing with the president and noted that the last time the men’s team won was over 40 years ago while the last time the women won was two Olympics ago. The onstage moment ended with everyone looking cheery together.

Hudson Williams cameo on ice

Hudson Williams, the 25-year-old Canadian actor and Storrie’s Heated Rivalry co-star, made a surprise appearance during a skating sketch set on the Studio 8H / Rockefeller Center rink. In the sketch, Storrie, Mikey Day and Ben Marshall played happy-go-lucky pals skating while a foreground couple confronted a rejected proposal. As the trio awaited Williams, Day said, “I feel so free, ” and added to loud audience cheers: “I feel like Alisa Liu right now. ”

Williams zoomed onto the ice and slid into Storrie, crashing into Storrie and the other skaters to huge cheers. Throughout the sketch, Slowikowska’s character tried to redirect her would-be fiancé’s attention to their relationship as he became increasingly distracted by the skaters’ whimsy and lore. At one point Storrie’s character is revealed to be Kendrick Lamar’s producer, prompting disbelief that the character had any connection to the Grammy-winning rapper. Williams also formed a conga line, saying, “I’ve never felt so cool. ”

Mumford & Sons performance with Hozier

Williams later joined Storrie to introduce musical guest Mumford & Sons. The band’s performance included a surprise appearance by Hozier; the two acts performed the song “Rubber Band Man. ” Williams was also present at the show’s goodnights.