Andy Samberg has proven time and again that he will do anything for a laugh. But the comedian revealed on The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast this week that when he once again returned to his old stomping grounds at Saturday Night Live two weeks ago for as sketch with that night’s host/musical guest Charli XCX he almost gave viewers way more than they anticipated.
“There was a lot of debate about how high my shorts should be,” Samberg said of his outfit for the nearly not-even-safe-for-late-night final scene of the musical digital short “Here I Go,” in which Andy and Charli played a clean-cut suburban couple who can’t stop snitching. “And I kept being like, ‘Well Charli’s are gonna be pretty high because that’s how she rolls, so I should really have mine high.’”
Samberg told Meyers that despite his regular cameos on the show this season, he wasn’t slated to be on SNL the week of Nov. 16 until he heard Charli would be pulling double-duty, noting that he and his Lonely Island crew are “huge fans” of the singer. He said they had a “couple songs” Charli might be interested in, and after sending “Here I Go,” the Brat star was totally down to clown with them on the song chronicling a clean-cut couple who love ratting out their neighbors.
Knowing Charli would be doing heavy lifting on the episode, Samberg said the K-pop-inspired “retro funk pop” song — written during last year’s writers and actor’s strike — made the most sense since it would require a bit less of a time commitment from the singer. She shows up at the end to join Andy for a show-stopping dance routine in the middle of the street in which Samberg rips off his pants to reveal bun-hugging red shorts that (almost) match Charli’s micro pants.
Samberg said he considered trying to wear the “exact” same outfit as the singer — which also included a red halter top — but thought better of it. “I was like, well no, I don’t think anybody actually wants to see that, despite what they might think,” he said, noting that he initially asked the costume department to cut the shorts even shorter. “They cut them higher and I was like, ‘I don’t know, maybe I should go higher.’ And then as soon as we started, like, really dancing, I really almost flopped out. I was like, ‘Oh no!”
While he ended up keeping his polo shirt on, Samberg said he was glad he opted for the less aggressively short bottoms. “Thank God we did not make it any higher ’cause it would have been really bad,” he said.
He also revealed that when he sent the song to Charli it originally didn’t have the wife character in it, but after she heard it and loved it he added a bit in for the “365” singer that come after he croons, “now make way for my wife.” In the bit, Charli, dressed in a yellow pant suit, sings, “Now hold up, wait a minute/ Cuz I’m about to snitch like I invented-id it/ They gonna roll up, any minute/ I pay my motherf–kin’ taxes now I’m cashing in on everything,” leading to a sweet duet portion where the two serenade each other about how they show love by “calling the cops instead of sex.”
In the end, Samberg said Charli was so game and ready to clown that he and his Lonely Island collaborators felt that she was “as good as anyone we’ve ever worked with,” with both he and collaborator Akiva Schaffer saying her takes were so complete they could have used any of them uncut. “Heading into it we were expecting to really like her and we liked her even more than we expected,” Samberg said. “She was super-good at the jokes, but also was super fun and just a good hand and delightful.”
Listen to Samberg discuss “Here I Go” (shorts talk begins at 22:07 minute mark) and watch the digital short below.
