Brendan Gleeson shades Colin Farrell with Paddington joke during SNL

Irish actors co-starred in the 2008 film ‘In Bruges’

Colin Farrell made a surprise appearance on this week’s episode of Saturday Night Live.

He joined the night’s host, Brendan Gleeson, for the opening monologue.

Gleeson had just finished explaining the premise of his new film The Banshees of Inisherin, which reunites the old In Bruges co-stars with director Martin McDonagh. According to Gleeson, the film is about friends who fall out because one is too “needy”. He went on: “I love Colin to bits, but the story isn’t too far from the truth.”

On cue, Farrell appeared on stage – in a comedy moustache – to ask a question. “Who’s your most favourite co-star you ever worked with?”

“Paddington,” Gleeson responded without hesitation.

Later in the show, Farrell re-appeared in a second skit about two strangers who are randomly paired together as subjects in a photo shoot. The photographer asks Gleeson and Farrell to stand next to each other, remarking of the two-time co-stars, “Just as I suspected, it works.”

In the sketch, a photo of Gleeson and Farrell looking sheepish with their hands tucked into their pockets ends up on the cover of Tiger Beat, a fan magazine aimed at adolescent girls. The headline reads: “Irish Shy Guys End War”.

First-time host Gleeson was joined by Willow Smith as musical guest. Her new album Coping Mechanism was released Friday (7 October).

It was a biting news-focused episode, which included both a sketch skewering Elon Musk, Kanye West, and Chris Pratt and a sketch about the recent Try Guys controversy.