APPLETON (NBC 26) — Appleton native Willem Dafoe hosted Saturday Night Live (SNL) this past weekend and gave a Wisconsin-style shout-out to the city he grew up in.
“I can still speak Wisconsin,” said Dafoe.
The actor made his debut as SNL host and spoke in what he considered his “Wisconsin accent” during his monologue.
Though his line made those in the audience laugh, some locals said his Wisconsin accent wasn't necessarily portrayed accurately.
“The accents were really bad,” said Madeline Uhlenbrauck, Fox Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau Marketing Communications Manager.
“Hey you guys let's go down to Krambos and get a drink from the bubbler,” Dafoe said in his Wisconsin accent.
Krambos was a grocery store on the corner of College Ave and Richmond Street in the early 1950s.
And while Uhlenbrauck said she wasn't the biggest fan of his accent, she did say his lingo was on point.
“The best part of this was mentioning the bubbler. That is very true, Wisconsin, Appleton, anywhere throughout the state thing to say so the bubbler piece was funny,” Uhlenbrauck said.
Uhlenbrauck who works at the Fox Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau says this helped give Appleton some free publicity.
“From our perspective, Appleton is already on the map as an awesome place to live and to work and to visit but it never hurts to get a little free PR from William Dafoe and it’s great when people with influence can give a little nod to his hometown,” Uhlenbrauck said.
If you missed SNL this weekend, don't worry you watch Dafoe's full monologue right below:
