Adam Driver And Ronda Rousey To Host Saturday Night Live

To kick off 2016, NBC  and Saturday Night Live have announced that Adam Driver and Ronda Rousey are the first hosts of the long-running sketch comedy show for 2016, and will start the second half of a very divisive season.

Driver, who was officially announced in December during the episode hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, is best known for his performance as Adam Sackler on HBO’s hit comedy, Girls, opposite Lena Dunham (who hosted Saturday Night Live in 2014). He has also done a foray into independent film, starring in Frances Ha and While We’re Young (both films by indie maestro Noah Baumbach), and a dramatic role in the heart-wrenching drama Hungry Hearts (which won Driver the prestigious Volpi Cup for Best Actor from the Venice Film Festival in 2014). However, his biggest role to date is most certainly that of the villainous Kylo Ren in the latest installment in the iconic science fiction franchise, Star Wars, Episode VII: The Force Awakens (which recently broke the record as the highest grossing film of all time in North America, and is well on the way to becoming the highest grossing film of all time). This is Driver’s first time hosting, and he will be appearing with musical guest Chris Stapleton. He will make his hosting debut on January 16th

The following week, Ronda Rousey will be hosting. A controversial figure, she is a very surprising choice for the show. However, athletes have hosted many times before (notable ones include scene-stealing Eli Manning in 2012, and Charles Barkley several times throughout the year). There is no indication as to how Rousey will deal with the comedic nature of the show – she could either be a runaway success like Manning, or fail to handle the show’s demands and end up being a weaker host, like Michael Phelps in 2008). I hope she does well, and I am sure she will, and this will put her on the map for her potential acting career which she hopes to jump-start with her leading role in the remake of Road House. Rousey will be hosting on January 23rd, with musical guest Selena Gomez.

What are your thoughts on the decision to get Adam Driver and Ronda Rousey to host the first two Saturday Night Live shows of 2016?