Last night, Josh O’Connor made his mark on Saturday Night Live with a concise and engaging three-minute monologue, kicking it off with a nod to an animated icon.

“For those who recognize my face but can’t quite pinpoint where from, no, I am not the mouse from Flushed Away,” he quipped.

The comparison to animated characters didn’t end there. The 35-year-old British actor delved into how he unwittingly became part of talks surrounding a possible live-action Ratatouille film during most of his monologue.

“I once mentioned that Ratatouille is among my favorite films,” O’Connor explained, highlighting the need to be cautious with what you share with the media. Fans started advocating for him to play Chef Linguini in a hypothetical live-action version, a campaign he knew nothing about until it was too late.

“I’m not very active online, so I was oblivious until the president of Disney Pixar publicly stated that a live-action Ratatouille remake would never happen, no matter how much Josh O’Connor desires it,” he said, eliciting laughter from the audience. With good humor, the first-time host added, “Can you imagine being publicly turned down for a role you never sought?”

Although O’Connor then claimed he doesn’t even want a live-action Ratatouille because he doesn’t have the time for it, he couldn’t help but make a few pitches and grow impassioned about this hypothetical movie.

“For what it’s worth, I would kill as Linguini,” O’Connor said. With a picture of the fictional chef onscreen, the actor added, “His ears are huge, and Ratatouille is basically a queer love story, but I agree, I agree, let’s not do it.”

O’Connor got things back on track, only to again interrupt his own monologue with more thoughts on the potential live-action remake. “And guys, you can’t make Ratatouille unless you have the perfect cast. There’s just no point. I mean, who would play the food critic Anton Ego? Perhaps Jeff Goldblum?” The audience erupted in laughter at a side-by-side photo comparison of the fictional character and actor Jeff Goldblum, before O’Connor closed out his set with a hint that he’s not quite ready to let this idea die. “No, no, no, no. I mean, yes. But later.”

O’Connor visited SNL to promote his star turn in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, the third installment of Rian Johnson‘s successful Knives Out film franchise. O’Connor was joined last night by Lily Allen as the musical guest.

Next week, on December 20, we’ll see the last Saturday Night Live of 2025 in an episode hosted by Ariana Grande, and with musical guest Cher.

Watch Josh O’Connor’s full opening monologue above.