Will Ferrell Brings ‘SNL’s’ Theater-Kid Energy to a Boil in His Return

Saturday Night Live has long been a home for theater kids, but I think what a theater kid is has changed over the show’s existence. The original cast certainly had some theater-kid energy, but it was different. They were a bit cooler and, as their name suggested, they were outsiders. These weren’t your normal prime-time players, and that was the point. However, society shifted, and you can see the cast of SNL reflecting that. By the late 90s, the theater kids on SNL started to reflect the theater kids I knew in real life.

I think that’s the result of a mix of factors. Society’s view on theater kids (and being “nerdy” about things) certainly shifted, thanks in no small part to things like Glee. Also, kids I went to school with certainly saw people like Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon and decided to emulate a lot of what they did. And y’all, those are some big ole theater kids to emulate. Now, while every cast member may not have the skill Shannon and Ferrell have, plenty of them have that BTKE (big theater kid energy).

That was all on full display during Cast List 2, a sketch from this year’s finale of SNL, which was hosted by Will Ferrell. It wasn’t the strongest episode, but watching Ferrell be in his element like this is always a delight, so he was still able to elicit chuckles from me during the show’s weaker moments. Cast List 2 brought back his familiar theater teacher, leaving out a cast list for the high school kids to lose their minds over, and for him to revel in it.

Anyone who has done a high school play likely knows how tense it can be waiting to see who will play who. So much is on the line! Well, not really. In the grand scheme of things, most people’s high school theater experiences will not affect their futures in the slightest. Hell, my high school’s theater program wasn’t even that popular, so it’s not like it even helped your social standing at school. But we would all gather round anxiously trying to get a peek, and this sketch nails that ridiculous anxiety.

They also run the gamut of high school stereotypes, and it’s funny that there have been so many different kinds of theater kids at this point that they can have several to choose from. Mikey Day as the teacher’s assistant who helps out even though he graduated. Jeremy Culhane is the loud and proud theater kid who usually gets the lead and dresses ridiculously. Ashley Padilla plays an uptight Christian girl whose life experience Ferrell questions (a recurring aspect of his character that always cracks me up).

There are also a couple of fantastic cameos. Kenan Thompson emerges from the director’s office as a silent choreographer who only says something to wheel away Sarah Sherman’s character, who has a broken leg and is being forced upon Ferrell (much to his dismay). Then, you get Molly Shannon as a handsy and inappropriate music director who manages to up the energy of a sketch that was already high energy to begin with. It really speaks to Shannon’s talents (and BTKE) that she’s able to walk in and just own the room while being over-the-top but also insanely believable.

But it’s Ferrell who deserves all of the flowers here. He also nails the idea that his character is not only larger than life, but also someone you have absolutely met before. He’s taking it all so seriously. He’s legitimately annoyed by Sarah’s wheelchair. He’s strangely and believably coquettish with these… high school children. It’s all insane, but it also feels very achievable. He feels like someone who is being placed there against his will (Ferrell) and is behaving as such. Ferrell plays that wonderfully.

My first theater teacher was an American-Irish guy from Boston who was brash and woke as hell (and still is). He was great, and sent me on a journey that’s been very important to my life. But I often lament the fact that I didn’t meet a lot of different theater types until I went to a conservatory after high school. My early days of theater were very important to me. There were certainly aspects of it that feel like this sketch. Still, that wasn’t my life, really. It’s an exaggeration, I know that, but it also made me long for a different time. Wild feelings to have for a silly sketch, but I ain’t gonna deny those feelings.