Bill Murray says Jason Sudeikis rallied ‘SNL’ cast after ‘SNL50’ sketch

Bill Murray is remembering the hilarious way Jason Sudeikis rallied the Saturday Night Live cast during the show’s 50th-anniversary special last month. 

The Riff Raff star, who was a cast member on the late-night sketch comedy series from 1977 until 1980, said Sudeikis was pivotal in helping everyone on set relax in the moments before John Mulaney’s big musical theater number.

“When you get back together with the people at these shows, you really feel a sense of fraternity, that we’re all in this, you know?” Murray revealed on Wednesday’s episode of The Drew Barrymore Show to host Drew Barrymore, who also made an appearance in the special’s “Debbie Downer” sketch. “Everyone’s pulling for everyone and every single sketch, and you’re, like, pumping people up from behind the camera: ‘Come on, go! Here we go!'”

He added that Sudeikis was a particularly “funny guy” who stepped in to bring back the good vibes when the cast needed it most. “There was a whole bunch of people poised off stage to go on stage and do a John Mulaney musical number,” Murray said. “I forget what the sketch was before, but… it was very emotional and was beautiful, and as soon as it ended, Jason starts going, ‘Okay! Let’s get ’em back! Come on, let’s get ‘em back! We haven’t lost ’em completely!'” 

The segment that aired before Mulaney’s musical moment was a pre-taped sketch called “The Stagehand,” which featured former SNL star Laraine Newman looking back at her time spent at Studio 8H and, along the way, encountering Pete Davidson’s character Chad and Mikey Day. 

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free daily newsletter to get breaking news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Murray said that after the emotional sketch Sudeikis’ enthusiasm cut through any nerves the cast may have had ahead of their screen-stealing musical number. “God, it just killed me,” he recalled. “And it just relaxed everyone a great deal. They had to go out and do a very challenging musical number, very complicated.”

“It’s very Ted Lasso of him,” Barrymore quipped, referring to Sudeikis’ role as the bubbly soccer coach on the Emmy-winning TV series of the same name.

Murray replied, “It was good.” 

While visiting the talk show, Murray also discussed delivering his own pep talk to the SNL writers ahead of the big night. 

“There were all the writers sitting in the room and it was grim — it was very grim. It just felt very heavy,” he explained. “I’d already seen some of the planning, and I was really excited, and I just tried to share with them how beautiful it was going to be, what a wonderful responsibility it was going to be, how many people are gonna watch it and love it, and that I thought it was destined to be an extraordinary success and it was gonna be great.”

“And,” Murray recalled adding, “let’s open a window because it’s hot in here.”

He continued, “It seemed like they just needed a little kick, a little boost. But I wasn’t acting. I meant it. And they certainly delivered.”

Tina Fey revealed last month that it was exactly what the writers — who included Mulaney Seth Meyers, Paula Pell, and Emily Spivey — needed to hear.

“I kept waiting for it to turn into a bit, and it never did,” she recalled on The Tonight Show. “He just was like, ‘It’s gonna be wonderful.’ And I just was like, ‘Oh my God!'”