Natasha Lyonne is issuing a word of warning: Don’t stand behind Adam Driver in a scene and expect to be seen.
The Poker Face star recently discussed her appearance in the grand finale of John Mulaney’s big musical theater number for SNL50, but revealed that most people likely didn’t spot her because she was almost completely eclipsed by Driver — in a hot dog costume.
“Well, you see, there’s Adam Driver and that’s a large hot dog, isn’t it?” Lyonne explained during Thursday’s episode of Late Night With Seth Meyers, pointing to Driver in a photograph of the sketch before dragging her finger over to her peeking out from behind him. “And what’s that? Who is that, Zelig?”
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Paul Shaffer, Scarlett Johansson, Alex Moffat, Emil Wakim, Chloe Fineman, James Austin John, Paul Rudd, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Devon Walker, Taran Killem, Ana Gasteyer, John Mulaney, Kristen Wiig, Kenan Thompson, Pete Davidson, Maya Rudolph, Kate McKinnon, Sarah Sherman, Will Forte, Jason Sudeikis, David Spade, Adam Driver, Kyle Mooney, Cecily Strong, Beck Bennett, and Nick Jonas on ‘SNL50’ musical sketch on February 16, 2025
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The sketch — which featured a collection of stars including Lyonne, Driver, Paul Rudd, Kristen Wiig, Will Forte, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Nathan Lane — featured Mulaney leading Pete Davidson and David Spade on a decades-long journey through New York City.
Along the way, the trio encounter a singing heroin needle (Maya Rudolph) and a hot dog (Driver) who warn them of the city’s dangers. The sketch culminates in a massive sing-along to Les Misérables’ “One Day More.” But because of Driver’s towering height and even taller hot dog costume, Lyonne cannot actually be seen in the sketch. (She can, however, be seen in the above photo.)
“You got caught in hot dog shadow,” host Seth Meyers remarked after looking at the image, to which Lyonne replied, “Yes, in hot dog shadow. And this guy, no sympathy at all.”
The actress explained that she didn’t know she was even going to be part of the sketch until Mulaney and SNL alum Fred Armisen invited her to join just before the show.
“They said, you know, day of, ‘Oh, it’s a New York thing. You should probably be in this. You’re a Guardian Angel,'” Lyonne recalled. “Came up [and] Adam Driver says, ‘Well, that’s what blocking is for.’ Okay! He’s going down!”
“He was saying that if ‘you’d been at rehearsal, you would’ve known to be out of the hot dog shadow,'” Meyers clarified.
Lyonne answered, “Yeah! And I was like, ‘Babe, take it easy,’ you know?”
All’s well that ends well, though, because Lyonne received some encouragement from none other than former SNL star Bill Murray afterward. “As soon as I walk out, he says, ‘Natasha, you saved the show,'” she recalled.
However, she admitted that she wasn’t exactly sure her presence could be felt in the scene. “I will say that, you know, thanks to whatever — let’s call it eight years in the biz — but thanks to a long time, I could tell I wasn’t on camera,” Lyonne said. “It’s this old trick, you know, if you can see the camera, it can see you.”
“And you had no idea where the camera was,” Meyers teased.
Lyonne responded, “I said, ‘Thanks, Bill.’ I said, ‘Thanks.’ But that was very fun. I mean, it was an extraordinary show. It was really moving. It was really beautiful.”
Meyers noted that it was fitting to have Lyonne, who was born and raised in New York City, in a New York–themed sketch. “Yes, and it was an honor to almost essentially not be there,” she joked. “Of anyone there, I was the most un-there, and that was an honor.”
Watch Lyonne recall getting caught in a hot dog shadow in the video above.
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