Was it love at first sight for Colin Jost and Scarlett Johansson? Sort of.
Instead of experiencing that strike of Cupid’s arrow, the Saturday Night Live star was acutely aware of the actress’ star power and intelligence. He writes in his book A Very Punchable Face: A Memoir that his first impression of his future fiancée was that she was “beautiful, smart, sweet and intimidatingly sophisticated.”
The pair met on the set of SNL in 2006, which happened to be his first year as a sketch writer on the show and her first time hosting. “I got eight sketches on the show my first year, including one cold open and a parody of MTV’s My Super Sweet Sixteen, starring first-time host Scarlett Johansson,” he recalls. “She has just turned 20 and I was 23, but in terms of status and maturing she was here [holds hand above head] and I was here [ holds hand one inch off ground]. She claims that she remembers thinking I was ‘cute,’ but I know what I looked like and that’s not the word I would have used. (‘Shaggy’ would have been generous. ‘Slovenly,’ more accurate).”
He goes on to describe the Avengers: Endgame star as having “a grace and a smile that I’ve still never seen in any other human.”
As for the skit she starred in, he states, “The only line I remember from the sketch is when Scarlett’s bratty character says, ‘This party is literally worse than the Holocaust.’ That was my Shakespearean sonnet for the woman I would one day fall in love with.”
And because of his love for Scarlett, Colin writes that he’s even finding himself wishing he had kids. “I’ve met someone I love and who I feel more comfortable with than I ever have before. I feel more confident committing to what I’m working on and standing by whatever I create, regardless of whether people like it or not,” he shares.
Jost writes that he recognized this desire for kids when he found himself wanting to participate in “human activities,” like birthdays and family gatherings.
He explains, “I’ve even woken up on a Sunday after a show and thought, ‘I would love to be raising a baby right now!’ Which is a far cry from when I used to wake up on a Sunday and think, ‘Can I make it to the bathroom, or should I just puke on this plant?'”
But he also says that he’s not likely to have kids until after he leaves SNL. According to the star, being a writer for the sketch show is “a job for young, single people,” because of the environment. “It’s certainly not a good place to work while you’re raising a family or nurturing a healthy relationship. In terms of ‘family- friendly jobs,’ SNL ranks somewhere between long-haul truck driver and Somali pirate,” the 38-year-old jokes.
Though Scarlett and Colin have yet to tie the knot, they likely spend plenty of time with her daughter Rose, 5, who she shares custody of with ex-husband Romain Duriac. The pair finalized their divorce in 2017, months before the actress began dating the writer.
