Josh O’Connor spent his Saturday Night Live hosting debut doing what every modern actor has to do at some point: politely killing a viral rumor with a punchline. During his monologue, the Challengers and The Crown star leaned into — and then loudly rejected — the internet’s latest fan-casting obsession: that he might headline a live-action Ratatouille. The result was a neat snapshot of where pop culture, meme casting, and late-night comedy all meet in 2025.


Josh O’Connor on the Saturday Night Live stage delivering his monologue
Josh O’Connor on the Studio 8H stage during his Saturday Night Live monologue. (Image: NBC via The Hollywood Reporter)

Why Josh O’Connor Is Suddenly the Face of a Fake ‘Ratatouille’ Movie

The hook here isn’t just that O’Connor hosted SNL with musical guest Lily Allen, or that next week’s finale will be a double-headliner with Ariana Grande and Cher. It’s that a throwaway online fantasy — “What if there was a live-action Ratatouille and Josh O’Connor played Linguini?” — made it all the way to the SNL stage, forcing the actor to address it in front of millions.


Inside the ‘Saturday Night Live’ Monologue: Turning Rumor Control into Comedy

O’Connor opened his SNL monologue with the kind of nervous, slightly self-deprecating charm that’s become his onscreen trademark. Then he pivoted to the rumor. Rather than ignoring it, he framed the alleged Ratatouille casting as something he had to formally, almost legally, disavow — and that’s where the comedy clicked.

“I just want to say, as clearly as possible, I do not want to star in a live-action Ratatouille. Please stop saying that I do.”

Structurally, this is classic SNL monologue territory: take a real headline, exaggerate the stakes, and let the host play the straight man to the absurdity. The joke isn’t that a live-action Ratatouille would be bad; it’s that the rumor has grown so large he has to address it like a scandal.

Studio 8H remains the place where actors reconcile their public image with pop culture’s latest obsessions.

O’Connor leaned into his reputation as a “serious actor” — the guy from The Crown, the artsy romantic lead from La Chimera — and then undercut it with the ridiculousness of being associated with a rodent culinary franchise. It’s the same dissonance that powered his memes: the idea of a prestige-film actor earnestly fronting a movie where a rat pulls his hair to help him sauté.


How a Pixar Classic Became Meme Casting Fodder

The live-action Ratatouille rumor didn’t materialize out of nowhere. Over the last few years, fan-casting culture has moved from Tumblr threads and Reddit posts into TikTok edits and Twitter/X campaigns, often inserting real actors into imaginary IP projects. Pixar’s Parisian cooking comedy is perfect for this treatment.

  • It’s nostalgic but not overexposed.
  • The characters have strong silhouettes and personalities that map easily to real performers.
  • Disney’s track record with live-action remakes makes every fancast feel at least vaguely plausible.

Add O’Connor’s résumé — vulnerable, slightly awkward, very European — and you get a fan dream-cast that spread quickly. A few viral side-by-side images of him next to Linguini’s animated design, some fancam edits, and suddenly the idea feels real enough that an SNL monologue has to swat it down.

View of Paris rooftops and the Eiffel Tower at sunset
Paris, food, and animation nostalgia: Ratatouille has all the ingredients for meme-fueled fan casting.

Josh O’Connor on Live TV: From Prestige Drama to Loose, Goofy Host

If you know O’Connor primarily as Prince Charles in The Crown or as the haunted dreamer in La Chimera, his SNL turn is a reminder of how naturally he leans into comedy. The live-action Ratatouille denial works because he plays it like a man mildly haunted by the internet, not a celebrity reading cue cards.

Film actor standing in front of a bright marquee at night
O’Connor has quietly shifted from prestige drama mainstay to someone equally at home in pop, meme-aware comedy.

The episode also reinforces a broader industry trend: serious film actors using SNL to loosen their public image. Florence Pugh, Timothée Chalamet, and Adam Driver have all done versions of this “I know what the internet says about me” bit. O’Connor’s contribution feels more niche — fewer thirst edits, more hyper-specific Pixar discourse — but it lands in the same lane.

“These days, SNL isn’t just a comedy institution; it’s reputation management with better punchlines.” — media critic’s shorthand for the show’s role in celebrity culture

His timing is sharp, especially when he leans into the idea that there are far worse rumors to clear up than “everyone thinks you’d be perfect in a Pixar remake.” It’s a gentle self-own, and it keeps the monologue from feeling defensive.


Lily Allen Brings a Brit-Pop Edge, While Ariana Grande and Cher Loom Over the Finale

O’Connor wasn’t the only UK export on the Studio 8H stage. Musical guest Lily Allen added another layer of British cool to the episode, contrasting nicely with his slightly flustered energy. For longtime pop fans, seeing Allen on SNL in 2025 is a quietly fascinating move: part nostalgia, part reintroduction.

Musician performing on stage under colorful concert lighting
Live musical performances remain one of SNL’s key draws, pairing unexpected artists with unexpected hosts.

NBC also used the episode to tease next week’s big-ticket finale, fronted by Ariana Grande and Cher — a generational pop crossover that essentially guarantees event viewing. Framing Allen’s appearance between O’Connor’s niche-Internet jokes and the looming Grande/Cher spectacle gives this episode a “deep cut” feel: less blockbuster, more cult favorite.


Live-Action Remakes, IP Fatigue, and the Joke Behind the Joke

Beneath the gags, O’Connor’s denial taps into a bigger industry conversation. In a decade defined by live-action versions of everything — from The Lion King to The Little Mermaid — the idea of Disney mining Ratatouille for another remake doesn’t feel far-fetched. That’s partly why the rumor had legs: Hollywood has trained audiences to assume every animated hit is just waiting for its photo-real reboot.

O’Connor turning that assumption into a punchline reads almost like a soft protest. Not an outright anti-remake manifesto, but a gentle, “Do we really need this one?” from someone audiences already associate with more offbeat, auteur-driven projects.

IP-driven cinema dominates multiplexes, making even a parody of a live-action Ratatouille feel oddly plausible.
  • Strength of the bit: It acknowledges the rumor without dignifying it as an actual possibility.
  • Weakness: If you’re not plugged into Film Twitter or TikTok fancasts, the premise can feel a bit inside-baseball.
  • Cultural takeaway: We’ve reached the point where parodying a live-action remake is almost indistinguishable from announcing one.

For those wanting to dive deeper into Josh O’Connor’s SNL appearance and his unexpected Ratatouille moment, here are a few useful starting points:


Conclusion: The Rumor That Became a Sketch

Josh O’Connor’s mock-formal rejection of a live-action Ratatouille spotlights how quickly a half-serious bit of fan casting can start to feel like industry news. By addressing it on Saturday Night Live, he managed to fold his own online mythology into a neat, self-aware joke — one that says as much about our IP-obsessed era as it does about his career.

And if Disney really does announce a live-action Ratatouille someday? O’Connor has already staked his position in the most public way possible. For now, the closest we’re getting is a well-timed monologue and the lingering suspicion that, yes, he actually would be pretty great as Linguini — no matter how loudly he says he doesn’t want the job.