Top 10 Taylor Swift Moments on SNL: Performances, Sketches, & Cameos

“SNL 40”
“Saturday Night Live’s” 40th anniversary special was packed with celebrity cameos and nostalgic throwbacks to the show’s most iconic sketches. To celebrate the beloved soap opera parody “The Californians,” fans got a nearly 10-minute revival that brought back the usual suspects, as well as a host of celebrity appearances. Perhaps the most unexpected addition was Taylor Swift, who popped in as Cousin Allison, a struggling actress who finally lands a minor role in a space movie. Even beside comedic heavyweights like Betty White, Kristen Wiig and Fred Armisen, Swift still stood out. She nailed the over-the-top accent and delivered a bizarre moment where she eats her own hair, right as it revealed that she tried to have White’s character killed.

Season 35
In November 2009, Taylor Swift made her “SNL” debut as both host and musical guest. She kicked off the night with a hilarious live sketch, playing reality TV star Kate Gosselin as a guest panelist on “The View.” Surrounded by impersonations of Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Swift’s Gosselin came across as delightfully clueless, stuffing her sentences with filler words like “you know” and “actually.” While Kristen Wiig’s overexcited Hasselbeck fawned over her hair, Swift just sat there, wide-eyed and bewildered, and frankly, that was all she needed to do. It may have been her first live “SNL” sketch as host, but with how effortlessly she slipped into character, you’d never have guessed.

Season 47
The Please Don’t Destroy trio joined “SNL” in its 47th season and quickly made a name for themselves with their sharp, self-deprecating digital shorts. One of their earliest sketches featured Pete Davidson pitching a music video about their unbreakable friendship, only for it to spiral into a brutal roast of them as “three sad virgins.” But it doesn’t end there. To really drive his point home, Davidson brings out Taylor Swift to deliver the ultimate takedown. Swift crafts specific digs for each guy, dubbing Ben Marshall “sad Ron Weasley,” likening Martin Herlihy to a scarecrow, and mocking John Higgins for his “bowling ball head.” She then drops the mic with a perfectly timed punchline to the four-minute joke.

Season 35
Teenagers often take the heat for bad driving, but let’s be honest, reckless road habits aren’t exclusive to just one generation. That’s the exact message teen activist Samantha Samuels pushes in the PSA for her newly launched group, Teens Raising Awareness About Awful Parent Drivers. Taylor Swift is nearly unrecognizable as Samantha, complete with a mouthful of heavy metal gear, an exaggerated lisp and a shrunken stature. But that doesn’t stop her from calling out her parents for lecturing her, rummaging through their purses and even revealing family secrets, all while driving. She then throws a temper tantrum when her mom discovers what she’s been up to. Safe to say, there’s a lot of bad blood in the Samuels household.

Season 35
The recurring “Hollywood Dish” sketch featured Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig as the insufferable celebrity interviewers Brady Trunk and Anastasia Sticks, whose main talent was driving their guests insane. This time, their unlucky victim was Taylor Swift. As they bombard her with questions about her recent award nominations, they unleash an onslaught of exaggerated facial expressions, each more ridiculous than the last. The pair keep poking and prodding, forcing her to deliver a painfully fake laugh to one of their so-called jokes. Finally, she decides she’s had enough and storms off the set. Swift plays an incredible straight man to Hader and Wiig, never once breaking despite the duo’s relentless attempts to get her to do so.

Season 47
For her fifth stint as the musical guest on “SNL,” Taylor Swift decided to go all out. Typically, artists perform twice: once before “Weekend Update” and again later in the show. But Swift broke tradition, opting for a single, uninterrupted 10-minute performance. Viewers were treated to the extended version of her song, “All Too Well,” which was released the previous day on her re-recorded album, “Red (Taylor's Version).” As she sang, the stage transformed with the seasons, with crisp autumn leaves drifting down at the start, then giving way to snowfall by the end. All the while, the song’s accompanying short film, starring Sadie Sink and Dylan O'Brien, played on a screen behind her. Ten minutes never felt so fleeting.

Season 35
In this sketch, Nasim Pedrad and Andy Samberg play a couple enjoying a romantic evening alone, until the girlfriend’s roommate unexpectedly arrives. But this interruption isn’t exactly unwelcome, at least not for Pedrad’s character. Taylor Swift plays the interrupting roommate who returns home after working just two hours at her part-time job. Yet, from Pedrad’s overjoyed reaction, you’d think she had been gone for a year. The situation gets even more awkward for Samberg’s character, as the two ladies sideline him and share a special handshake, making him feel like the third wheel on his own date. It’s the kind of scenario that could easily inspire Swift’s next heartbreak anthem.

Season 35
Taylor Swift ditched a bit of her “good girl” image in the recurring “Scared Straight” sketch opposite Kenan Thompson. Swift plays a supposedly hardened criminal named Skeet Devlin, recruited to warn some wayward delinquents about the dangers of landing behind bars. Decked out in cornrows, a red headband and a fake goatee, Swift looks more like a kid playing dress-up than a seasoned felon, but she commits to the bit. While Thompson’s Macintosh takes the lead with his usual crude tales, Swift holds her own and gets right in the kids’ faces with her ridiculous yet oddly convincing performance. If we ever considered a life of crime, best believe our minds are completely changed now.

Season 35
Back in 2009, escaping the “Twilight” craze was practically impossible. So there was bound to be an “SNL” parody at some point, and it just happened to be when Taylor Swift hosted. In this spoof, Swift steps into Kristen Stewart’s shoes, except instead of a vampire, she falls for one of Frankenstein’s monsters, played by Bill Hader. The premise alone is ridiculous, as Hader and his fellow Franks are decked out in green skin and neck bolts, plus they all have a comical fear of fire. But the sketch dials it up to perfection with its melodramatic tone and ridiculous dialogue, which Swift delivers with absolute commitment. We’d watch this “Twilight” spin-off in a heartbeat, especially with her in the lead.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Taylor Swift Goes Head-To-Head Against the Compulsive Lies of Kristen Wiig’s Penelope

Swift Is Clearly Enjoying Every Second of This Hilariously Bad Shakira Impression

The Singer Doesn’t Exactly Save Broadway as Annie, but at Least She Tries

Alongside Lenny Pickett, Swift Turned Up the Heat With Her Debut Performance of This Song

Swift Got Everyone Buzzing About “Reputation” With These Show-Stopping Performances

Season 35
For her first time hosting “Saturday Night Live,” Taylor Swift pulled off something even veteran hosts rarely attempt: she wrote her own opening monologue. But instead of relying on predictable punchlines, Swift did what she does best and turned it into music. In “Monologue Song (La La La),” Swift poked fun at tabloid gossip, from her high-profile breakups to her reputation for writing songs about them. She even took a jab at her infamous encounter with Kanye West at the VMAs, reassuring everyone that she had bodyguards this time, just in case. At just 19 and making her hosting debut, she managed to check every box for a solid monologue, a clear indication of the superstar she was about to become.


What is your favorite Taylor Swift moment on “SNL”? What sketches would you like to see her do in the future? Let us know in the comments below.