For the Actor Awards’ first award of the night, Heated Rivalry star Connor Storrie — who rushed out to the L.A. ceremony after his Saturday Night Live debut in New York less than 24 hours ago — and The Studio’s Kathryn Hahn took the stage.
Storrie and Hahn started their bit in giggles, with Hahn admitting she wasn’t meant to present the award. “Right now, I am Bowen Yang because he is casually stuck in Antarctica,” Hahn told the audience before Storrie directed them to look at the screen, where a photo of a bundled up Yang was projected. “No, that’s for real,” she added.
Now, it certainly played as a potential bit; however, Hahn was telling the truth — it is for real. Yang was meant to present Sunday’s award alongside Storrie, but he encountered travel issues coming from Antarctica, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. The comedian posted on social media about the trip earlier this week and has spoken about it on his podcast Las Culturistas, which he hosts with fellow comedian and best friend Matt Rogers.
“Do y’all remember when he played an actual iceberg on SNL?” Storrie asked the crowd and Hahn, the latter of whom responded “not really.” The actor continued, “Me either.”
Storrie and Hahn ended up kicking off the show in a delightful way, forming a “we didn’t know we needed this but now we love it” pairing. At one point Hahn even grabbed Storrie’s face in what appeared to be an unscripted moment of cute aggression. They ended up presenting the award for best actress in a drama series to Keri Russell.
Just last night (Feb. 28), Storrie made his SNL hosting debut alongside musical guest Mumford & Sons. The 26-year-old actor, who has often cited his training in clowning as a foundation for his acting, was able to show his comedic side, a bit of a departure from his breakout role as Russian hockey plater Ilya Rozanov in the queer Canadian romance series, Heated Rivalry.
Storrie’s co-star Hudson Williams, his onscreen love interest and offscreen best friend, made a surprise cameo during SNL. The 25-year-old, who much like Storrie broke out in the series for his portrayal of Canadian hockey player Shane Hollander, joined his pal for sketch and during the first introduction of Mumford & Sons.