TV How Jeff Daniels used a clip of Valerie Bertinelli to perfect a last-minute Jay Leno impression on SNL (exclusive) Lamborghini! By Lester Fabian Brathwaite Lester Fabian Brathwaite Lester Fabian Brathwaite is a staff writer at Entertainment Weekly, where he covers breaking news, all things Real Housewives, and a rich cornucopia of popular culture. Formerly a senior editor at Out magazine, his work has appeared on NewNowNext, Queerty, Rolling Stone, and The New Yorker. He was also the first author signed to Phoebe Robinson's Tiny Reparations imprint. He met Oprah once. EW's editorial guidelines Published on December 5, 2024 09:00AM EST Comments In 1991, Jeff Daniels was called upon by the comedy gods, or at least Lorne Michaels, to do a last-minute impression of Jay Leno for his guest hosting gig on Saturday Night Live. The only problem was that Daniels had never done a Jay Leno impression, or any impression, for that matter. Valerie Bertinelli and the word "Lamborghini" helped him nail his Leno just in time to go live from New York, Daniels recalls in Alive and Well Enough Continues, the second season of his audio-only memoir released through Audible. Jeff Daniels, Valerie Bertinelli, Jay Leno. Ilya S. Savenok/Getty; Dia Dipasupil/WireImage; Monica Schipper/Getty Daniels hosted SNL for the first time on Oct. 5, 1991, and for the cold opening, Dana Carvey would revive his Johnny Carson impression for the Tonight Show host's final anniversary show. In rehearsals, Kevin Nealon provided the Leno, but Michaels turned to Daniels and asked him if he could do a Leno impression. Daniels "stammered out a series of words in no particular order, hemming and hawing" about his lack of impression experience. Michaels turned back around then declared Daniels would be doing Leno. And the two-time Emmy winner had to figure out how to pull that off with the clock ticking. Back at his hotel, Daniels had 15 sketches to memorize and a VHS tape of Leno hosting a recent episode of The Tonight Show. As the actor prepared, Daniels took note of Leno's unique voice and mannerisms. "He seemed to speak in a key unknown to those who had studied music theory," Daniels says. "It was never low, not bossy at all, nasal, definitely something nasal going on to make that sound. And then up it would go, scaling its way up into something resembling a falsetto, only with comic timing. And then that high-pitched giggle. Yes, there was a lot to work with there." Try as he might, the versatile actor could not nail down Leno's voice. So he popped in that VHS and watched Leno interview his first guest, Valerie Bertinelli. The host asked Bertinelli about her then- husband Eddie Van Halen, who had just celebrated a birthday. Leno asked the One Day at a Time actress what she had gotten him: a Lamborghini. Breaking news: Jeff Daniels looks back on his most famous roles, from Dumb and Dumber to The Newsroom An astonished Leno repeated the word "Lamborghini!" in such a way that it gave Daniels the in he needed to perfect his Leno impression. "There it was," Daniels says. "Sometimes it's a word, similar to a key thought that as an actor I use to carry me through a scene, which for me is a lot easier than trying to remember all that research, backstory, and the long paragraph of direction I just got from the director." Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more. With "Lamborghini!" figuratively taped inside his forehead, Daniels worked out his Leno impression, and by showtime Lorne Michaels was proven right once again.