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‘Verity’ Star Dakota Johnson’s Noir Bunny Bumper Might Be the Most Striking ‘SNL’ Promo Image in Ages

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Every ‘Saturday Night Live’ episode comes with its own little works of art, and fans have long treasured the portraits that flash on screen before and after commercial breaks. Those bumpers, which spotlight each week’s host and musical guest, have been a staple of the show since 1975.

Behind many of the most memorable ones is photographer Mary Ellen Matthews, who has been in charge of the shoots for more than 2 decades. “I like to think of it as a billboard of sorts,” she told CNN, describing the bumpers as a chance to showcase each host and their personality.

This week, Dakota Johnson got one of the most talked-about promo images the show has produced in a while. Ahead of her third hosting gig, ‘SNL’ shared a black-and-white post captioned “Dakota Johnson!!!” with a bunny emoji, featuring a 3-second clip of the actress in black bunny ears, a strapless black bodysuit, and long black gloves, with a cigarette in her mouth.

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The image is pure noir. Johnson reclines on a stone ledge with the city’s buildings rising behind her, her signature bangs framing her face as she gazes into the camera with a sly, knowing expression.

The monochrome treatment gives the shot a timeless, almost vintage quality. Paired with the oversized bunny ears and elegant opera-length gloves, it plays like a cheeky nod to classic Hollywood glamour.

It’s exactly the kind of playful, persona-driven image the bumpers are known for. Matthews has said she often draws on a subject’s public persona or recreates famous artworks to make each shoot unique. The portraits have become a beloved art form in their own right. Roughly 4,000 of Matthews’ photos have appeared on screen, many for just a few seconds each.

Her work was even collected in the 2025 book ‘The Art of the SNL Portrait’, which features more than 200 bumpers selected from her archive. Matthews had considered calling it “All This for Three Seconds,” a fitting description of the work that goes into each fleeting image.

Johnson is no stranger to the tradition. NBC’s archive includes Matthews’ bumper photos from both her first hosting gig in 2015 and her return in 2024. The episode aired on October 3 as the second show of season 52, with hardcore punk band Turnstile making its ‘SNL’ debut as musical guest. Johnson was promoting her new thriller ‘Verity’.

Her history with the show runs deep. She first hosted in 2015 to promote ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’, returned in January 2024 for ‘Madame Web ‘, and appeared in season 51 as “Madeline” during Lily Allen’s musical performance.

This time, the night came with an extra surprise. Taylor Swift crashed Johnson’s monologue in a cameo that quickly went viral, joking that she isn’t actually Johnson’s therapist despite hearing about her love life every week.

The hosting gig arrives during a busy stretch for Johnson. Beyond ‘Verity’, she is set to make her feature directorial debut with ‘A Tree Is Blue’. For now, though, her bunny-eared bumper is the image everyone’s talking about. Bunny ears and all, her third turn as host showed just how comfortable she has become in Studio 8H.

What do you think of Dakota Johnson’s black-and-white ‘SNL’ bunny bumper?

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