Jamie Dornan took the stage to host the second episode of Saturday Night Live UK last night, leaning into his Irishness throughout the show. It all started during the monologue as Dornan shared a pretty odd fact about himself.
After Saturday Night Live legend and American Tina Fey kicked off the show last week, SNL UK turned to someone a little more local in Dornan. The 43-year-old actor from Northern Ireland did well in keeping the momentum going.
During his opening monologue, the Fifty Shades of Grey star poked fun at his polished image before taking a sharp left turn into something much more unusual. “I’m not just a sex symbol who looks sexy in everything he does,” Dornan joked, “but I am also a guy who collects rocks that look like potatoes.”
Dornan didn’t stop at simply telling the audience. He doubled down on the bit (or, apparently, not a bit at all) by wheeling out a cart stacked with five of his prized “spud stones.” One by one, he held them up, admiring their uncanny resemblance to various potato forms, including one he proudly noted looked “exactly like a chip.”
“Look at these gorgeous little things. And no, this isn’t a joke. God knows, I wish it was,” he said. In an effort to convince any skeptics, Dornan even encouraged viewers to Google “Jamie Dornan potato rocks,” insisting he was telling the truth. Fans can see for themselves that this is, in fact, a real hobby of the actor's.
Jamie Dornan's history of odd late-night TV stories
As bizarre as it may sound, longtime fans might not be entirely surprised by the actor's potato rock story on Saturday Night Live UK. Dornan has a history of sharing quirky personal stories during late-night TV appearances. And nowhere has he done that more than on The Graham Norton Show. So much so, that the British late-night show put together a montage of his ridiculous anecdotes.
These stories have included making a mess while sleepwalking, attempting to add body hair in hopes of impressing a girl, and realizing that he did not know how to properly walk. Given what else Dornan has said on television, admitting to collecting potato-shaped rocks isn't even at the top of the list when it comes to strange tales.
Maybe it's just something about the studio that brings out Dornan's odd stories. Saturday Night Live UK films in the same spot as Graham Norton's late-night show, suggesting the location has an effect on Dornan.
Dornan has proved that behind the sex symbol persona lies someone far more eccentric than expected. And Saturday Night Live UK gave him yet another perfect platform to show it off.