Lin-Manuel Miranda Reprises His Hamilton Role, and Breaks Character, During Surprise SNL Appearance: Watch

Lin-Manuel Miranda stepped back into one of his most popular roles for Saturday Night Live.

The actor, 46, made a surprise appearance during the Jan. 25 episode of the late-night comedy series, where he reprised his breakout role of Alexander Hamilton in Hamilton for a “Founding Fathers” opening sketch. (Timothée Chalamet later acted as both host and musical guest.)

Miranda came out to cheers from the audience while dressed in full costume as his character from the hit musical, as he was joined by James Austin Johnson as President Donald Trump to sign the Declaration of Independence.

“I say our lives matter not if we lose them in the cause of liberty. What matters is the nation we build,” Miranda said, before he rapped, “‘Cause in America, all men are created equal / America, not England, we doing the sequel / And we will have leaders, but know one thing, in America, we will never have a king.”

Johnson then stepped into frame as Trump, interjecting, “Never say Never,” as Miranda and the rest of the cast froze in the background.

Johnson’s Trump went on to make a joke-filled speech, and, at one point, walked right up to Miranda, causing him to break character as he smiled slightly while still frozen on the spot. 

“Oh, look at Lin. Look how bad he wants to do a rap,” said Johnson. “He even wrote a whole rap and he doesn’t get to do it. Oh, the audience would have eaten that right up.”

“He’s in sniffing distance of an EGOT, and he’s got to stand there until I’m done,” the comedian continued, referring to the acronym for earning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award.

“Linny, Linny, Linny, Linny,” he added, throwing in one more tease, calling the songwriter, “Lin-Manuel Miranda Cosgrove.”

Hamilton was created by Miranda and inspired by Ron Chernow’s 2004 biography of Alexander Hamilton, merging biographical storytelling with rapping and hip hop/R&B influences.

The musical debuted off-Broadway on Jan. 20, 2015, and later became a cultural phenomenon, winning 11 Tony Awards, a Grammy and a Pulitzer Prize. 

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Speaking about the impact of Hamilton in 2020, Miranda told WSJ. Magazine, “There’s nothing new about what’s happening. It’s been interesting to see the different things that pop up, because I was trying to tell this specific story, but I was grabbing from the America I know. So it all hits in different ways, based on where America is.”

Saturday Night Live airs weekends on NBC.