Willow & Brendan Gleeson Pull Off a Slick ‘Irish Goodbye’ in New ‘SNL’ Promo

Saturday Night Live has a fun lineup coming up this weekend (Oct. 8), with actor Brendan Gleeson making his hosting debut, and Willow taking the stage as musical guest.

In a new promo for the episode shared on Thursday (Oct. 6), the duo stand alongside SNL cast member Chloe Fineman, who gushed over Gleeson’s role in 2021’s Macbeth, in which he played King Duncan. The actor warned that it’s bad luck to say “Macbeth” in a theater, and both Willow and Fineman ignore him before a light falls from the ceiling behind them.

“That’s probably a coincidence,” Fineman quickly says.

Later on in the promo, the SNL comedian shares that an Irish accent is her favorite part about Ireland. Willow notes that her favorite part about the country is the music, while Gleeson, who is Irish himself, says he prefers an “Irish goodbye.”

Fineman, who didn’t know what the term meant, soon realizes that she is left alone onstage, and that “Irish goodbye” means leaving a situation without bidding any farewells.

Willow’s first time on the SNL stage was during season 47 as a guest of Camila Cabello, when the pair performed their collaboration “Pyschofreak” off the former Fifth Harmony member’s latest solo effort Familia.

“I’m honestly really, really surprised that I’m going to be on SNL twice in one year, five months apart,” she told Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe. “That’s crazy. I’m really excited. I’m nervous obviously, because being with Camila [Cabello], really, really good friend of mine. There’s that feeling of comfortability there where you can look across the stage and be like, ‘Girl, we’re in this together. We’re doing this.’ I’m not baring my soul alone on the stage. But now it’s going to be me baring my soul alone on the stage, and I’m just so grateful and so excited, but also s——g my pants slightly.”

Willow’s new album <COPINGMECHANISM> is out Oct. 7. Watch the SNL promo below, and catch the full episode on Saturday (Oct. 8) at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.