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Jenna Ortega's "Parent Trap" SNL Sketch Was a Wednesday Reunion with Fred Armisen
When the SNL alum popped up in the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star's Season 48 episode, they proved a dynamic comedy duo.
When Jenna Ortega hosted Saturday Night Live on March 11, 2023, it was an Addams family mini-reunion: Her Wednesday co-star Fred Armisen joined her in a sketch about a remake of The Parent Trap.
In "The Parent Trap" sketch, Bowen Yang plays the director who's attempting to step into Nancy Meyers' shoes for a new spin on the 1998 classic. Dressed in a Camp Walden shirt — which should be instantly recognizable to fans of the Disney rom-com — while Ortega (herself a former child star IRL) is the actress playing twins Hallie and Annie.
"We’re so excited to be doing this remake of The Parent Trap," Yang's character explains to Ortega as they prepared to film. "As you know, we found some places to update the original, but the scene in the cabin when Hallie and Annie realized they’re twins is such a classic."
"I love that! I totally agree. This is so special, I’m just really glad to be here," Ortega says.
"Obviously, since you’re playing both twins we’ll film you twice, combining the two images into one," the director continues. "But since your body double is out sick, we’re going to have one of our crew guys, Raymond, read with you, okay?"
That's when Armisen makes his entrance as the unlikely stand-in for a tween twin.
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Fred Armisen returned to SNL for Jenna Ortega's episode
Armisen enters the cabin set as Raymond, the 56-year-old man who'll read Annie's part. Though the two don't look anything close to twins, they take their places to recreate the film's cabin scene where Hallie and Annie argue over bedtime.
Ortega and Raymond follow the script at first, but when Raymond gets caught up in the moment and improvises by yelling an expletive at Ortega, it's a "Cut!" from the director.
"Sorry about that," Armisen's character tells them. "I did a little off-the-cuff thing, like they do on Curb [Your Enthusiasm]."
They jump ahead to the next sequence where Ortega and Armisen reveal their celebrity crushes — Shawn Mendes for Ortega, Lisa Rinna for Armisen's Raymond. Frustrated, the director has them move on to film the scene where they combine the ripped photo of their parents, and realize they are "frickin" twins.
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“Yeah, like in that old Lindsay Lohan movie!” Armisen's oblivious Raymond yells.
As the "twins" embrace in the scene once they realize they're sisteres, Raymond exclaims, “Wow, I’m like crying now! So they just split us up? Why would they do that to us? We got to kill 'em.” That line's definitely not found in The Parent Trap script.
Jenna Ortega names "The Californians" as her favorite SNL sketch
Earlier in the episode, Armisen made a surprise appearance during Ortega's SNL opening monolgue, and the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice actress told Armisen that he was the reason she started watching the SNL, and that "The Californians" is her "favorite sketch of all time."
Whether at Nevermore Academy or in Studio 8H, the Addams family bond is clearly strong between these two.
Watch "The Parent Trap" from Season 48, Episode 15 of Saturday Night Live above, and stream every season on Peacock anytime.
