No one can say Joe Biden isn’t a good sport.
When Aubrey Plaza took the stage of “Saturday Night Live” to open the NBC late-night show’s 48th season as host Saturday night, she wasted no time reminding the world — and the sitting president — exactly who is No. 1.
“It is great to be here hosting ‘Saturday Night Live!’ This is a dream come true,” said the actress, who has spent a lot of time on red carpets lately as a nominee for both film and television awards, also showing up on many Hollywood best-dressed lists.
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“And yes, I mean that. I know sometimes when I try to be sincere, it can come off as sarcastic. But I care!”
Looking stylish in a black, sparkly spaghetti strap dress, her new blond hair sleekly styled, Plaza quickly established both her “SNL” and Delaware bonafides.
After a shout out to her family, including her Grandma Margie, visiting from Delaware to see the show, the former “SNL” set department intern quickly reminded people who the biggest star in Small Wonder is.
“I was actually voted the most famous person from Delaware,” Plaza said. “I beat Joe Biden and he was pissed. He was livid.”
That “vote” was a 2018 Delaware Online poll, in which the actress, writer and producer beat out Delaware’s most famous politician.
Plaza then queued up a video clip from Biden himself, and the president did not cast shade on her claims of the crown:
“Aubrey, you’re the most famous person in Delaware, there’s no question about that,” Biden said. “We’re just glad you made it out of ‘White Lotus’ alive!,” referring to the HBO hit’s reputation for murder.
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Plaza was nominated for a Golden Globe Award as Best Supporting Actress for her role in “The White Lotus,” which recently wrapped up its second season. The award ultimately went to her co-star, Jennifer Coolidge.
After reminding the “SNL” audience about her early days as a Not Ready for Prime Time page/intern in the set design department, she proceeded to take them — and TV audience — on a backstage tour, showing off her bad phone etiquette, uncovering some late-night skeletons, bumping into Kenan Thompson and enjoying a reunion with former “Parks & Recreation” co-star Amy Poehler.
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“I dreamed my entire life of standing on this stage and saying “We’ve got a great show for you tonight!,” said a glowing Plaza.
The first episode of the season also featured musical guest Sam Smith.
Later in the show, Plaza and Poehler resurrect their “Parks & Rec” characters April Ludgate and Leslie Knope to discuss (or avoid) discussing the merits of working for local government with “Weekend Update” host Colin Jost.
“Work for the water department,” Plaza suggested. “You can drain the reservoir and find all the bodies and murder clues. Or just be a dog catcher and just say you couldn’t find any. Because when you work for the local government, doing the bare minimum is doing your part.”
After nearly two decades in television and film, the actress just completed a breakout year, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination for “The White Lotus” and rave reviews for her intense starring performance in the film “Emily the Criminal,” nominated for four Film Independent Spirit Awards.
By August of last year, she also released the well-received FXX animated series “Little Demon,” which co-starred Danny and Lucy DeVito. A couple of months later, “The Return of the Christmas Witch” landed on bookshelves, a sequel to a 2021 Christmas book she co-wrote with Murphy.
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She returned home to Delaware before the holidays for a book event with Murphy at Rockwood Museum in Bellevue.
Next up for the Ursuline graduate? A role in Francis Ford Coppola’s fiction epic “Megalopolis.” That cast also includes Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Shia LaBeouf and Dustin Hoffman.
