He’s steadily risen to fame during his seven years on “Saturday Night Live,” and now, Jason Sudeikis has a new gig hosting the 2011 MTV Movie Awards on Sunday – a feat he says he’s prepared for, thanks to his “SNL” roots.
“We’re used to putting together an hour-and-a-half show in a week’s time,” Jason told Access Hollywood of his usual “SNL” routine at a rehearsal for the Movie Awards in Los Angeles on Thursday. “So having two weeks to do [the Movie Awards], to really focus in on it, has been a real nice sort of [change]. It allows us to breathe, rather than running and gunning.”
Though the Movie Awards are less than four days away, Jason said rehearsals for the big night have yet to begin.
“We’ve just been in the writing process — working on some song bits for the middle of the show, working on the monologue last night,” he told Access. “[I] went and tried out some jokes last night at the Improv – that was a lot of fun. I’m a big proponent of getting a fun group of people together and then having a good time while doing it.”
After working with many of Hollywood’s best and brightest as they cycled through to host “SNL,” the 35-year-old actor said the relationships he has forged came in handy when enlisting celebrities to promote the MTV bash.
“That’s how — for the promos for the show — we got Emma [Stone] and Taylor [Lautner],” Jason revealed. “That [‘SNL’] relationship really mostly allows you to not be completely starstruck every place you walk into, because you’ve met Robert De Niro already. You’ve met Tom Hanks. You’ve had dinner with Tina Fey, and it’s like, ‘Oh, OK, we’re all just human beings at this point.’
“You get over that, which is the biggest help,” he added with a laugh.
In addition to his weekly NBC hilarity, Jason stars alongside Jennifer Aniston in the upcoming “Horrible Bosses” – due in theaters on July 8 – and the star said working with an often-lingerie-clad Jen for the movie was “not that hard of a job.”
“It’s not manual labor and it’s not teaching math to kids,” Jason told Access. “It’s pretty darn lucky.”
And Jason’s not the only “SNL” cast member on a “lucky” streak – Kristen Wiig, Jason’s hilarious scene partner for “The A-Holes” sketches on the late night sketch comedy show — is also at the top of her game with her box office hit comedy, “Bridesmaids.”
“To say I’m proud of her almost feels like I’m looking down on her when I’m just looking across at her, just being happy as hell for her,” Jason told Access, when asked if he’s proud of Kristen’s success. “It’s not surprising to me that people responded to the film, and specifically her and her sensibilities because she’s one of the funniest, sweetest [people].
“[A] very, very soulful person with great eyes,” he added.
Catch Jason’s hosting debut when the 2011 MTV Movie Awards air on Sunday at 9 PM on MTV.
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