Dan Levy says Drew Barrymore comforted him before he hosted Saturday Night Live: 'An instant balm'

Dan Levy is revealing how Drew Barrymore helped calm his nerves amid all of the chaos that comes with hosting Saturday Night Live. 

The Good Grief director revealed that a spontaneous run-in with Barrymore at the show's COVID testing booth gave him the courage he needed when hosting the sketch comedy series for the first time in 2021. 

“I was just about to do Saturday Night Live [and] I had never been so nervous in my entire life,” Levy explained on Wednesday’s episode of Barrymore’s talk show. “And I saw your face and it was like an instant balm.” 

He continued, “There are moments when you need a little bit of a life raft and I looked over and saw you and was like, ‘Today’s gonna be okay.’ The nerves are gonna be fine.” 

Barrymore, who recalled being shy when saying hello to Levy before the show, marveled at how differently they interpreted the encounter. 

“In my mind, here’s my inner dialogue, ‘Oh my god, there he is. He’s so amazing. Keep it cool. Don’t bother him. You know what? You’ll regret it if you don’t say hi. Don’t be a dork,’” she said. “But it is nerve wracking to meet your heroes or people you love.” 

Levy added that those feelings are even worse if you suffer from social anxiety like he does. “That’s an extra layer,” he said. “It’s not just like, ‘Is this person special and I want to meet them?’ It’s also just like, ‘I’m uncomfortable in the room generally speaking most of the time.’” 

Watch Barrymore and Levy recall their SNL meeting in the clip above. 

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