Jon Hamm On Why He Was “Very, Very Scared” Of Hosting ‘SNL’ The First Time

Jon Hamm is reminiscing about the first time he hosted Saturday Night Live, and the Mad Men alum said he was “very, very scared.”

Hamm has hosted SNL three times, and during an appearance on The Tonight Show to promote his latest series, Landman, the actor recalled how he felt hosting the late-night sketch show.

“I remember being very, very scared up until about 10 seconds before you go out the door,” Hamm told host and SNL alum Jimmy Fallon. “And [stage manager] Gena Rositano’s back there counting you down, screaming in your ear, and you’re looking at a tiny screen, and your back is up against the wall, and you have to walk down the steps. ‘Don’t trip,’ that’s all I was thinking about.”

Hamm first appeared as SNL guest host on October 25, 2008, adding, “At a certain point, literally as the band is playing, and it’s so loud, and you can’t hear anything, and Gena’s like, ‘5, 4 … ‘ and I go, ‘Oh wait, it’s a ride. It’s a roller coaster ride. You just have to hold on and not fall out of the car.'”

The actor noted that the show going by so quickly made him realize he would be fine, adding, “It was the greatest 90 minutes of your life.”

“It goes by like it’s 45 seconds,” Hamm said. “You look down, you look up, it’s ‘Update,’ you look down again and you’re at goodnights, and you’re like, ‘Oh my god, what happened? Let’s do it one more time.’ The good news is, you get a chance to do it twice — you do dress [rehearsal] and air. It was just the best. So exhilarating.”

Watch Hamm’s full interview on NBC’s Tonight Show in the video below.