Ashley Padilla and Ryan Gosling: A Fun Duo on ‘SNL’
Ryan Gosling’s knack for breaking character on Saturday Night Live appears to have contagious qualities. Last night, the Project Hail Mary star shared the stage with breakout cast member Ashley Padilla, delivering memorable performances in two sketches that had the audience in stitches.
In the opening sketch, featuring three dim-witted cyclopes—portrayed by Kenan Thompson, Mikey Day, and Gosling—the comedic chaos escalated when Padilla, playing a guardian of hidden treasure, started breaking character. The scene required her to pose a riddle along with Veronika Slowikowska, leading to hilariously repeated incorrect answers from the cyclopes, with Gosling’s character comically insisting that Padilla is his wife.
only a riddle stands between them and treasure pic.twitter.com/r89C5qnA8e
— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) March 8, 2026
Padilla’s varied and exasperated intonations of “stop” and “go back” not only drew additional laughter from the audience but also prompted more breaks from Gosling.
The duo returned for an even more chaotic sketch later in the night, portraying a principal and teacher struggling to manage a rowdy class. Their efforts were thwarted as high school students began passing notes to one another, leading to unexpected humor. A prompt on screen read, “The contents of these notes have been changed since rehearsal,” foreshadowing imminent laughter.
As Padilla read about her character’s attempts to solicit makeover tips from ChatGPT and Gosling revealed his principal’s disheartened attempts to make 133 basketball shots, the two struggled to maintain composure, frequently breaking into laughter.
“Class dismissed!” Padilla exclaimed as the sketch concluded, prompting loud applause from the audience.
Gosling recently discussed his experience on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, revealing, “I get in trouble a lot for laughing on the show,” and shared that he often hears, “‘You laugh too much. You and Fallon.’”
While breaking character has traditionally been frowned upon on SNL, the audience’s enthusiasm for these unscripted moments suggests that viewers relish in the spontaneous chemistry, particularly when it involves Gosling’s distinctive charm.
