‘SNL' finale: Jake Gyllenhaal stars in skit about random attacks on actors

Saturday Night Live’s season finale episode featured a hilarious skit about the recent assaults on actors on the streets of New York. Jake Gyllenhaal hosted the episode along with musical guest Sabrina Carpenter.

The latest assault was suffered by actor Steve Buscemi, who got punched in the face in a random attack.

In the skit, Gyllenhaal played an NYPD sergeant speaking at a press conference. He called character actors “the life blood of the entertainment industry” and told the bad guys to “stop punching character actors in the face.”

He went on to call character actors “national treasures” and noted that the attack on Buscemi came after Rick Moranis suffered a similar one, and the “shocking versatile Michael Stuhlbarg.”

He then gave a hilarious description of character actors, saying they are “actors who faces you can remember but names you cannot,” and said that an actor would be at risk if they have “ever been on the TV show Boardwalk Empire,” or they “have a face that makes casting directors go ‘oh interesting,'” and “your IMDB page has over 100 entries but all your characters just have a first name.”

Gyllenhaal then offered tailored advice to some actors, telling Stephen Roots to “avoid mass transit,” and advising Paul Giamatti to “shelter in place.”

He then named a list of actors who’ve been put on high alert, including William Fichtner, Judy Greer, Walt Goggins and Stephen Tobolowsky.

The skit ended with a guest appearance by actor Jon Hamm, who quipped: “I can’t get punched. Without this beautiful face, I’m just a tall guy with a beautiful body.”