Meet All 25 Members of the 'SNL' Five Timers Club—and Who Could Be Next
Saturday Night Live Five Timers club scene
Saturday Night Live doesn’t have a hall of fame, but it does have the closest thing possible: the Five Timers Club. This elite group of celebrities consists of everyone who’s hosted the iconic sketch show five times or more: Alec Baldwin (17 times), Steve Martin (16 times), Tom Hanks (10 times), Tina Fey (six times) and others.
While Buck Henry technically became the first member of the Five Timers Club in 1977—just two years into the show’s run—the idea of the club didn’t take hold in the popular imagination until 1990. During Season 16, Hanks became the first person to ever mention it on SNL, name-dropping it during his fifth appearance on the show.
“The first time you do the show, you can't believe you're here,” he said during his monologue. “The second time you do the show, it means you were funny enough to be asked back—and you're pushing a movie. The third time you do the show, the second time didn't go so well, and you have something to prove to yourself. The fourth time you do the show, you're just blatantly pushing a movie. But the fifth time you do the show is the most special time of all, because you get this … a membership card in the Five Timers Club.”
Hanks then walked off the stage and into a sketch that showed him in a lavishly decorated private club with Martin, Elliott Gould and Paul Simon.
According to Lorne Michaels, the Five Timers Club was the brainchild of Hanks. “It was his idea, actually, that there was this private club where only the people who had hosted five times just met up and spent time,” Michaels told The New York Times in 2015, noting that Justin Timberlake wanted to do a Five Timers Club sketch during his fifth hosting gig in 2013.
“So, I called everybody,” Michaels recalled. “Chevy [Chase] was here, and Marty [Short] was here. Steve was here. Danny [Aykroyd] was around. It was fun. I think the influences become part of the show, and you see that the traditions just live on.”
Keep reading to see who’s in the Five Timers Club—and who could be the next stars to join.
Who’s in the SNL Five Timers Club?
Emma Stone
Stone is set to host for her fifth time on Dec. 2, 2023, four years after her fourth appearance. Her turn as Bella in the Yorgos Lanthimos film is already generating Oscar buzz, and another SNL hosting gig is a perfect opportunity to remind voters why they love her. (She's also in Showtime's HGTV satire The Curse.)
Alec Baldwin
In addition to his many appearances as former president Donald Trump, Baldwin has hosted SNL a whopping 17 times. He first got the gig in 1990 and hit the five-time milestone in 1994; he most recently hosted in 2017.
Steve Martin
Despite his long association with SNL, Martin was never actually a cast member. He made his hosting debut in 1976 during the show’s second season and joined the Five Timers Club in 1978, clocking the fastest ever rise to the club in one year and 181 days. He’s hosted the show a total of 16 times, most recently in 2022 with Only Murders in the Building co-star Martin Short.
John Goodman
Goodman made his hosting debut in 1989 and has since hosted the show 12 additional times. He joined the Five Timers Club in 1994 and most recently hosted SNL in 2013.
Buck Henry
Henry became the first member of the Five Timers Club in 1977, just one year and 306 days after his inaugural appearance during the show’s first season. Henry, who died in 2020, hosted the show a total of 10 times.
Tom Hanks
After making his hosting debut in 1985, America’s Dad joined the club in 1990. He’s hosted the show a total of 10 times, including his most recent appearance in 2020 during one of SNL’s “At Home” episodes (filmed remotely at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic).
Related: 27 Best Tom Hanks Movies, Ranked
Chevy Chase
Chase was the first former SNL cast member to both host the show and earn a spot in the Five Timers Club. He’s hosted a total of eight times, most recently in 1997.
Christopher Walken
Known for the iconic 2000 sketch “More Cowbell,” Walken hosted for the first time in 1990 and joined the club in 2001. He made his seventh and most recent appearance in 2008.
Elliott Gould
Gould, who joined the club in 1980, hosted for the first time in 1976 during SNL’s inaugural season. He’s hosted a total of six times.
Danny DeVito
DeVito, a six-timer, joined the club in 1993 after hosting for the first time in 1982. He most recently helmed the show in 1999.
Drew Barrymore
Barrymore is the youngest person ever to host SNL, landing her first gig on the show in 1982 when she was just 7 years old. She joined the Five Timers Club in 2007 before making her sixth hosting appearance in 2009.
Tina Fey
Fey, who was SNL’s first female head writer, was a cast member from 2000 to 2006. She’s since hosted six times, most recently in 2018.
Scarlett Johansson
The fourth woman to hit the five-time milestone, Johansson—who’s hosted a total of six times—most recently hosted in 2019. She also happens to be married to current cast member Colin Jost.
Related: Marvel at Her Millions! Find Out Scarlett Johansson's Net Worth
Candice Bergen
Bergen became the first woman to join the Five Timers Club after she hosted the show in 1990. Her first hosting appearance happened during the show’s first season—she helmed the fourth episode.
Bill Murray
Murray, who was a cast member from 1977 to 1980, joined the club in 1999.
Justin Timberlake
The former NSYNC member has hosted the show five times since his first gig in 2003. He most recently hosted in 2013, playing double duty as the musical guest as well.
Related: Where Are the NSYNC Band Members Now?
Ben Affleck
Affleck hosted for the first time in 2000 and joined the Five Timers Club in 2013.
Melissa McCarthy
McCarthy is the most recent female addition to the Five Timers Club, joining in 2017.
Dwayne Johnson
Johnson is the only (former) athlete in the club, hitting the milestone in 2017. The first time he hosted in 2000, he hadn’t yet made his big-screen debut.
Related: Dwayne Johnson’s 2023 Net Worth Went From Seven Bucks to Superhero Heights!
Jonah Hill
Hill joined the club in 2018 while promoting his directorial debut, Mid90s.
Will Ferrell
Ferrell, who was an SNL cast member from 1995 to 2002, became a Five Timer in 2019.
Paul Rudd
Rudd became a club member in 2017 after making his first appearance 13 years earlier.
John Mulaney
The comedian, who has also worked as a writer on SNL, made his fifth appearance in 2022. He’s had the fastest rise to the Five Timers Club in the modern era of SNL, clocking his fifth gig after just three years and 388 days.
Woody Harrelson
The actor joined the club in 2023. Harrelson holds the distinction of taking the longest time to hit the five-time milestone, landing his fifth hosting gig 33 years and 99 days after making his debut in 1989.
Paul Simon
The legendary singer-songwriter has technically only hosted four times, but he’s appeared in Five Timers Club sketches because he’s also been a special guest or the musical guest so many times.
Who’s most likely to join the SNL Five Timers Club next?
Martin Short
Dana Edelson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Since his brief turn as a cast member in Season 10, Short has hosted the show three times on his own and a fourth time with Steve Martin. Only Murders in the Building’s third season just finished, but he could score his Five Timers jacket in the run-up to the 2024 Emmys campaign.
Kristen Wiig
Photo by: Will Heath/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images
Wiig, who was a cast member from 2005 to 2012, made her fourth hosting appearance in 2020. Her next project, the Apple TV+ series Palm Royale, doesn’t yet have a release date, but alums don’t really need a reason to come back. Her Five Timers Club card could be in the mail any day now.
Related: Everything to Know About 'Palm Royale,' the Star-Studded Comedy Coming to Apple TV+
Cameron Diaz
Photo by Mary Ellen Matthews/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Diaz hosted for the fourth time in 2014. She’s since retired from acting, but recently signed on for the movie Back in Action, which is currently in production. She could easily become part of the club when it’s time to promote her return to the big screen.
Lindsay Lohan
Photo by Dana Edelson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Lohan has been kind of off the grid for the past several years, save for her 2022 holiday movie Falling for Christmas, but she was at one time an SNL darling, hosting four times between 2004 and 2012. She remains the only person to have hosted three times before turning 20. She’s a dark horse candidate, sure, but she would be a quirky addition to the club.
Charles Barkley
Photo by: Will Heath/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Barkley is one of the rare athletes who can hold his own with the SNL cast, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him back on the stage with the gang. He last hosted in 2018, so his number could be coming up soon.
