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

This is, randomly, the second time this week Stiles has reenacted a character of hers from the early aughts time period.

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Julia Stiles
(Image credit: Getty Images)

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.

Julia Stiles

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Julia Stiles

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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.”

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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). 

Julia Stiles

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Julia Stiles

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Julia Stiles

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Julia Stiles

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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.)

Julia Stiles

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Julia Stiles

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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.”

Rachel Burchfield
Rachel Burchfield
Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.