Julia Stiles Steals the Show With Surprise ‘Save the Last Dance’ Cameo on ‘Saturday Night Live’

We knew on last night’s Saturday Night Live that Adam Driver would be hosting and Olivia Rodrigo would be performing (a solid combo on its own)—what we were not expecting was the Julia Stiles cameo we happily received, as Stiles and SNL cast member Chloe Fineman reenacted a scene from Stiles’ hit movie Save the Last Dance.

Stiles’ surprise appearance happened during the show’s “Weekend Update” segment, when “Colin Jost set up the bit by announcing Fineman has some intimate gift ideas to share for that special someone in your life as the holidays are around the corner,” Deadline reports. “To do so, strangely, Fineman needs to demonstrate it from in front of the news desk.”

“I only have one sexy gift idea, and I kind of have to demonstrate it,” Fineman told Jost and his fellow “Weekend Update” anchor, Michael Che. “The sexiest gift you can give your partner is to try something new in the bedroom.”

Her gift? A reenactment of the final dance Stiles performs at the end of Save the Last Dance. Fineman is dressed in all black—just as Stiles’ character, Sara, did in the 2001 film (which she starred in alongside Sean Patrick Thomas). 

Fineman does a pretty good job with the choreography, but it really kicks into gear as Stiles—also wearing black sweatpants and a black top—joins her for the performance, as the roaring audience cheered. (The movie was a cult classic back in the early aughts.)

This is, interestingly, the second time this week that Stiles has channeled a character of hers from the deep past: the first was her character from 1999’s 10 Things I Hate About You, Katarina “Kat” Stratford, who she brought back to life by reading the “hateful” poem she recited to Patrick Verona in the film, who was, of course, played by the late Heath Ledger: “I hate the way you’re always right,” the poem reads, in part. “I hate it when you lie. I hate it when you make me laugh, even worse when you make me cry.”