Tom Hanks Thought Chris Hemsworth Should Play David Pumpkins on ‘SNL’
SNL viewers are bracing for the return of Tom Hanks’ famous David Pumpkins, but one of Season 42’s most memorable pre-political characters almost looked very different. According to Bobby Moynihan, Hanks thought David Pumpkins was better suited to a Hemsworth.
Departed SNL cast member Moynihan revealed the tidbit in conversation with Seth Meyers (h/t Vulture), atop some known early insight into the character’s development. Hanks, it seems, was hesitant to take the role at first, and suggested SNL pass David S. Pumpkins and his skeleton twin partners onto the next host:
Tom Hanks … not a fan of the sketch, thought it was very bizarre. In between dress and air, he was like ‘Hey, I think Chris Hemsworth would make a great David Pumpkins.’ He was hosting the next week. But now [Tom]‘s very happy with it.
Speaking of “bizarre” – something’s definitely off about this story. Hemsworth didn’t actually host any Season 42 episodes, and the most immediate outing after Hanks’ was Hemsworth’s Marvel co-star, Benedict Cumberbatch, on November 5. Hanks’ episode aired on October 22, so even if Hemsworth was somehow scheduled to host at one point, there were no episodes closer to Halloween that Pumpkins could have appeared in.
Hanks was certainly happy enough as a viral sensation to make a brief return in the Season 42 finale as “David S. Pimpkins,” though it remains unclear if the character will resurface in Season 43. Hanks recently shared a script page from a Fantasia-style David Pumpkins number, without specifying it if had anything to do with the September 30 premiere with Ryan Gosling, or beyond.
Hemsworth has plenty of his own memorable SNL bits, but would David Pumpkins have gone so viral without Hanks?