It’s about befriending an ex and then popping him out during the opening monologue for your first Saturday Night Live hosting gig.
Braver than most, Natasha Lyonne chose the latter over the weekend when Fred Armisen, who she dated for seven years before their recent breakup, joined her on stage over the weekend alongside fellow “SNL” alumnus Maya Rudolph .
After noting the “cosmic connection” she feels with the late-night sketch show, Lyonne, accessorised in a black plunging-neck catsuit, said, “The people here are my chosen family.”
“I’ve been coming here since I was a teenager,” she continued. “I created ‘Russian Doll’ with Amy Poehler and I have great friends from the show.”
At this point, both Armisen and Rudolph appeared on stage to discuss their impressions of the actress, whose calling card is her husky voice and heavy New York accent.
“We get really good impressions of you, just not when you’re around,” Rudolph said.
“Congratulations, ipso facto,” Armisen said, narrowing his eyes and adopting Lyonne’s characteristic drawl before Rudolph followed and added, “How are you? It’s a dynamite sweater…cockroaches.”
As the two left the stage, Lyonne joked, “You know, Freddie and I, we were together for seven years. We were the only couple with a sextape that no one wanted to buy.”
The Orange Is the New Black alum unconventionally confirmed their split last month, revealing the two called it quits because of a spat over a swimming pool.
“I really think we broke up because I wanted a pool,” she told . “We love each other about as much as two people can love each other and we still talk all the time, but Freddy doesn’t like a swimming pool. It might seem like a mundane reason to break up, but during this pandemic you need to do your rounds — I’m like Burt Lancaster in ‘The Swimmer.’
Lyonne and Armisen were first linked in 2014 before making their first red carpet appearance together the following year at the Emmy Awards.
Rudolph was indeed central to their love story, first introducing the duo during what Lyonne has described as a “rocky road” due to her struggle with substance abuse.
Later in her opening monologue, Lyonne said she went “to hell and back” since becoming a child star, rising to stardom in her early years, and then developing a drug addiction.
“I brushed off and got back on the ride. And now I’m here,” Lyonne continued. “All right, so I’m summing up events, glossing over whole decades. But I’m here and I’ll tell you what I found. There is always hope in despair and there is always a reason to get back in the ring and fight another day.”
Lyonne was joined by musical guest Japanese Breakfast for the show’s Season 47 wrap-up episode.
The season finale was also the swan song for a handful of longtime cast members, including Aidy Bryant, Kyle Mooney, Pete Davidson, and Kate McKinnon, who bid farewell to the series during the episode’s emotional cold.
Watch Lyonne’s monologue below.