Reese Witherspoon is looking back at one of the most intense moments of her career, hosting Saturday Night Live just weeks after 9/11.
The actress, now 49, spoke about the emotional experience on Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, recalling how overwhelming it felt to take the stage at such a fragile time for the country.
Witherspoon hosted the Sept. 29, 2001 episode, the first of Season 27 and the first to air after the attacks, and admitted she felt completely detached in the moment.
“I completely left my body,” she said, later adding, “I would give that 0 stars, do not recommend.”
Her episode was originally supposed to be the season’s second, but when the Sept. 22 premiere was canceled, plans shifted.
She remembered receiving a call from creator Lorne Michaels, who told her how important the night would be.
He emphasized that Rudy Giuliani, firefighters, and Paul Simon would be there, and that the show needed her to help signal that “we gotta laugh again. We’ve got to get back the national spirit.”
At the time, Witherspoon was only 24, balancing early motherhood and fast-growing fame.
Her breakout summer hit Legally Blonde had arrived just months earlier, following notable roles in Cruel Intentions, Election, and American Psycho.
Still, she didn’t want to back out.
“If you know me, if I tell you I’m going to do something, I mean there has to be a real disaster for me not to,” she said. Even when Michaels told her that skipping was an option, she replied, “Quit? Me?”
They pushed through, and “we did it and it was good,” she recalled, though the pressure stuck with her.
The experience was so intense that she didn’t host again until May 2015, nearly 14 years later. “It’s not the show’s fault,” she said. “It was just too much responsibility for a 24-year-old girl.”
That memorable episode was also a first for Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers, who joined a cast that included Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon, and Tracy Morgan.
Looking back, Witherspoon can appreciate what the episode meant, but she’s honest about how heavy it felt at the time.
