'Top Gun: Maverick' star Miles Teller discusses 'SNL' hosting debut ahead of Season 48 premiere

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'Top Gun: Maverick' star Miles Teller discusses 'SNL' hosting debut ahead of Season 48 premiere

"In my family growing up, SNL was an institution."

By Josh Weiss

Saturday Night Live's 48th season premieres on NBC this weekend with the hosting debut of Top Gun: Maverick star, Miles Teller. Appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon Wednesday evening, the young actor discussed the opportunity, revealing that it's always been his dream to appear on the long-running sketch comedy series.

"In my family growing up, SNL was an institution. It still is," he said, citing Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan, Cheri Oteri, Molly Shanna, and Ana Gasteyer as some of his favorite cast members. "My sisters and I would do the skits and our close family friends...it was our collective dream to one day either be a cast member on SNL or to host." While he did admit to being a little nervous, Teller also stated that he's "excited to see how it all works."

As a former cast member, Fallon offered up some words of wisdom: "Try everything. Believe in the writers, believe in the producers. They're all the best of the best and whatever works is gonna work. Just try anything and just go all out. They all love you already. I heard word back down the hall and they said, 'Yeah, we love Miles Teller.'"

Watch the full interview below:

The interview also included the discussion of of a recent tweet made by Teller's grandmother, who would very much like her grandson to be cast as the next James Bond. "Look, I set up her Twitter many years ago," the actor explained. "I'm not gonna tell her what to do with it. Do what you want, grandma. But I am actually here to make an announcement...[I'm] still not 007."

Grandma Teller was over the moon about the exchange and took to Twitter to voice her gratitude. "Well, I couldn’t help but smile watching Jimmy Fallon talk to Miles on his show tonight about my recent tweet," she wrote. "He held a card and read what I wrote about how Miles would make the best new James Bond’s 007!! Jimmy then waved and said, 'Hello grandma.' The two of them made my day."

Saturday Night Live returns to NBC this Saturday, Oct. 1, at 11:30 p.m. Eastern. Teller will usher in the new season alongside musical Kendrick Lamar. Brendan Gleeson and Megan Thee Stallion are confirmed to host and perform the following week on Saturday, Oct. 8. Following the exit of several longstanding cast members like Kate McKinnon and Pete Davidson, the show has added four new players: Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow, and Devon Walker.

You can catch up on the previous 47 seasons of SNL, now streaming on Peacock.