Nope: Chris Kattan Opens Up About That Unexpected Shout Out in Jordan Peele’s Latest

Jordan Peele’s feature films might lean heavily into unsettling genre stories, but he also finds plenty of ways in inject both humor and social commentary into those adventures, often finding unexpected connections between these fictional events and the real world. In Nope, one sequence explained a tragic incident Steven Yeun’s character Jupe experienced, in which Chris Kattan was heavily referenced. The Saturday Night Live alum recently recalled that he was entirely oblivious to getting namedropped in the film, until it hit theaters and he started seeing audience reactions, inspiring him to check out the film for himself and share his praise for not just Peele’s film but also appreciation at earning a tribute in the sci-fi effort. Nope is in theaters now.

WARNING: Minor spoilers for Nope below

The scene in question sees Jupe recalling how he was a child actor on the sitcom Gordy’s Home!, which featured a real chimp. One fateful day, the chimp had a violent outburst where he attacked members of the cast and crew, resulting in the series’ cancellation. Jupe reflects on how the incident was parodied on Saturday Night Live, with Kattan playing the rampaging chimp, as Jupe also praises Kattan’s performance as the animal.

“All I knew was that there was some mention of my name in the film and that was pretty much it,” Kattan shared with Consequence. As he browsed social media, he noted, “Some people were saying, ‘Chris Kattan crushed it,’ ‘Chris Goddamn Kattan,’ different variations of what was said.”

He added, “I figured that someone would have told me that it was negative.”

The episode was said to have aired in 1998, a time in which Kattan had been known to play the character Mr. Peepers, a quasi-Missing Link figure, which could surely draw parallels to Kattan playing a chimp. 

“Well, they didn’t say it directly but yes, I assumed that that’s what they were referring to,” the actor admitted of similarities of Mr. Peepers. “Obviously, it was very flattering — I couldn’t be more honored.”

During the Gordy’s Home! rampage, at least one woman is horribly disfigured by the chimp, with the full extent of his violence not entirely known. Kattan went on to note that, were the incident to have actually occurred, it’s unlikely that the SNL team would have made light of it.

“I don’t know if they would do that. It’s very hard to predict if the writers would suggest doing something like that or not,” the actor clarified. “I would probably ask that myself: As a writer, do you think that’s a good idea? I don’t know if it is a good idea.”

He continued, “Having Jordan Peele mention me in this level of a film — this level of production and being a huge blockbuster of the summer, I thought that that was so wild. It really took me by surprise.”

Nope is in theaters now.

What did you think of the reference? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!