Glen Powell explains why he brought a UPS driver to his Saturday Night Live hosting debut

The Running Man actor hosted the late-night program for the first time November 15

Glen Powell brought an unexpected guest to the set of Saturday Night Live: A UPS driver.

During his opening monologue on SNL’s latest episode, the 37-year-old actor revealed that he flew his UPS driver to New York City for the taping. He explained that he wanted the driver to be at his hosting debut — which was initially supposed to happen in 2021.

“I was actually supposed to host four years ago for Top Gun: Maverick,” Powell said from Studio 8H.

“And when I got the call, I was on a porch with my family, and we all lost our minds. We were all jumping up and down, celebrating,” he said. “And a UPS driver happened to be delivering a package at that exact same moment.”

He added: “He was like, ‘What is going on?’ and I was like, ‘I’m hosting SNL!’ And he was like, ‘Are you serious?’ And I was like, ‘Yep, Christmas episode, tune in!’”

Glen Powell brought a UPS driver on stage during his SNL monologue November 15 (Getty Images)

Powell then took a selfie with the driver, Mitch.

But Powell confessed his dream “got taken away.”

“Top Gun got delayed because of COVID, so SNL had to take their offer back,” he added.

SNL creator Lorne Michaels called him at the time and told him “without Top Gun, no one will know who the F you are,” Powell said.

So, the actor didn’t end up hosting the long-running sketch comedy program — and Mitch mocked him for it.

“For four years, this UPS driver was just going around saying, ‘Glen Powell is a liar!’” he added. “So now, I am here hosting, and it feels amazing.”

Powell said it felt “even better” to prove to his UPS driver that he’s “not crazy,” so his sisters found his cellphone number and The Running Man star got in touch with him.

“So to prove to Mitch that I am not a liar, I flew him all the way to New York,” Powell said. “He thought it was a scam, but he still came, and he is sitting in the audience tonight.”

The camera then cut to a shot of Mitch in the audience, before Powell brought him on stage to “recreate the selfie” they took.

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While this was Powell’s first time hosting SNL, he did make an appearance on the show in March 2024, when his Anyone But You co-star Sydney Sweeney was the host.

During her opening monologue, Sweeney addressed and denied speculation that the pair were secretly dating.

“That’s obviously not true,” she said at the time. “Me and my fiancé produced the movie together, and he was there the entire shoot.”

Her fiance at the time, Jonathan Davino, is “the man of my dreams, and we’re still together and stronger than ever,” Sweeney said. “He even came here tonight to support me. Can we cut to him?”

The camera then hilariously cut to Powell sitting in the audience.