Ryan Gosling returned to Saturday Night Live this weekend and revived the hilarious “Close Encounter” sketch during the episode’s cold open alongside his former Barbie co-star, Kate McKinnon.
First introduced on SNL back in 2015, the sketch revolves around three friends who were all abducted by aliens but had vastly different experiences once they were on the spaceship. In the newest sketch, Gosling found himself in the same predicament as when the original one aired, being unable to hold back his laughter at the crazy things McKinnon was saying and doing.
Bowen Yang and Mikey Day, who are playing NSA investigators, begin the cold open by saying to Gosling, McKinnon, and Sarah Sherman, “Now you’re all here because you’ve experienced a verified alien abduction.”
Sherman replies, “It was wild. One second, we’re three friends on a camping trip, and the next, we’re citizens of the stars.”
Gosling quickly chimes in saying, “And sir, before we begin, can I say something? I’m just realizing that I was wearing the same outfit last time I was here,” he says while looking at the blue and tan vest that he wears every time this sketch is performed. “I just want you to know I do have other clothes.”
McKinnon, who plays Colleen, later jumped in with her side of what happened the night she was abducted, sharing, “I was by the lake, takin’ a whore bath, then out of nowhere I get sucked up by a giant vacuum cleaner and I land on the ship, still pantsless mind you.”
After Gosling and Sherman share their positive experience with the aliens, McKinnon explains that she had a sexual encounter with them, and says, “These two are getting ASMR love tingles, meanwhile down in gen pop the grays and I are doing our usual dance. They’re battin’ my knockers, they’re starin’ down the barrel of my south mouth. I don’t know, their heart wasn’t in it.”
It isn’t until Gosling starts to describe what the aliens looked like that he starts to break character.
“These things, they’re smooth down there. They’re like a broken doorbell. No dong,” he said. “And I’m wearin’ my seethrough robe, so when they saw that I was packin’ a troll nose, they just went right through it.”
McKinnon then crouched down in between Gosling’s legs to act out how the aliens were treating her. When she began flicking Gosling’s crotch, The Notebook actor couldn’t stop himself from laughing. Even McKinnon breaks character in that moment, too.
At the end of the sketch, Gosling, McKinnon, Sherman, Yang, and Day all huddle together and introduce the show, saying “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!”
Gosling hosted the show with musical guest Chris Stapleton. See the full sketch, above, and don’t miss Gosling’s latest hosting job on SNL by catching the episode on Peacock.
Saturday Night Live, Saturdays, 11:29/10:29c, NBC and Peacock