‘Bridgerton’ actor Regé-Jean Page to host ‘Saturday Night Live’ for the first time
Page will host the forthcoming episode of the long-running comedy sketch series, featuring rapper Bad Bunny as musical guest
Actor Regé-Jean Page, the lead in the popular Netflix series Bridgerton, will head to 30 Rockefeller Center next week to host perennial NBC comedy sketch series Saturday Night Live (SNL).
Variety reports that the episode will air Saturday, Feb. 20, and will feature musical guest Bad Bunny, who raps alongside Cardi B on the single “I Like It.”
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Page has been gaining considerable recognition for his role in the Shondaland period piece in his role as the charismatic, promiscuous Duke of Hasting, Simon Basset. Shondaland is the television production company founded by the prolific television writer/producer Shonda Rhimes.
Based on the Julia Quinn romance novels of the same name, at least the first two minutes of Bridgerton have been watched by 82 million subscribers in its first month, making it the most-watched series in the history of the streaming service, CNET reports.
Page’s performance on Bridgerton has gained him critical acclaim on top of his growing legion of admirers. This British actor has earned several award nominations for his turn as Basset, including two Screen Actors Guild Award nods as well as an NAACP Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series.
Prior to his role on Bridgerton, Page played Chicken George in The History Channel’s 2016 remake of Roots, the 1977 mini-series based on Alex Haley‘s Pulitzer Prize-winning book. In the 2016 film, Page was included in an all-star cast that featured Forest Whitaker, Anika Noni Rose, Laurence Fishburne and Clifford “T.I.” Harris.
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In 2020, Page was also in the cast of the Amazon film Sylvie’s Love, starring Tessa Thompson, Nnamdi Asomugha and Eva Longoria. Page played Chico, a member of a jazz quartet with Asomugha’s character, Robert.
Page will be the fifth Black host of SNL for its 46th season, following Chris Rock, Issa Rae, Dave Chappelle and Regina King, who hosted the latest episode Saturday. There were only three Black hosts during the COVID-19 shortened 45th season: Chance The Rapper, Eddie Murphy and RuPaul.
Murphy won an Emmy for hosting the Christmas episode that season, the first of his career.
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