Heidi Gardner addresses breaking over Butt-Head on SNL: "There was clearly a lot going on for me"

At a News Nation town hall to discuss the regulation of artificial intelligence, a professor (Kenan Thompson) gets derailed when he spots two Beavis and Butt-Head look-a-likes (Gosling and Day) in the crowd. But this goofy premise isn’t what makes the sketch so special. When she turns to see Day and his “exposed gums,” Heidi Gardner, playing the town hall’s moderator, absolutely loses it. Especially for an actor who rarely breaks, it’s a delightful moment that inspires similar belly laughter from the rest of the cast. (None from the stone-faced extras though, who are the real MVPs of this bit.)

The outbreak of chatter around Gardner’s break was so immense—the sketch racked up almost 6 million views on YouTube in under three days—that she’s already done an interview with Vulture about the moment. The sketch had actually been in the hopper for almost five years, Gardner revealed, and—despite all appearances—she had actually seen the makeup (sans Day’s gums and teeth) in rehearsals. Still, she just “couldn’t prepare for what [she] saw” on the day, despite the fact that she “really tried.” “There was clearly a lot going on for me,” she added.

Delving into her personal history, Gardner also explained that she’s normally so good at keeping her cool because a previous director had “coached into [her]” that she couldn’t break and needed to keep things professional. “It was so nice” to finally let it all out and be commended for it, she shared. “I left the stage a little bit in shock. Then the anxiety set in and I was like, Oh my God, was that okay? I had some friends in my dressing room, and they were like, ‘Of course, it was okay.’ So many other writers and cast members came up and said, ‘Good job.’ I’m like, What? I actually didn’t do my job.” As for all of those extras, Gardner “hope[s] all of them get a moment where they can completely lose it in a sketch and be supported after.” If it leads to something half as charming as this, we want the same.