--- title: Here's How SNL's David S Pumpkins Became Halloween Hero description: Bobby Moynihan explains the backstory to the viral Saturday Night Live skit that birthed cult Halloween character David S. Pumpkins. canonical: https://time.com/4951773/david-pumpkins-origin-story/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-21T18:22:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:47:27.303Z og:title: How David S. Pumpkins Became the Unanimous Hero of Halloween og:description: Apparently, Tom Hanks wanted Chris Hemsworth to play the character og:url: https://time.com/4951773/david-pumpkins-origin-story/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte512e71c9a8a1276/6988abf4656a3fb971bcda22/david-pumpkins.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Saturday Night Live - Season 42 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How David S. Pumpkins Became the Unanimous Hero of Halloween twitter:description: Apparently, Tom Hanks wanted Chris Hemsworth to play the character twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte512e71c9a8a1276/6988abf4656a3fb971bcda22/david-pumpkins.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's the Story of How David S. Pumpkins Became Your Halloween Hero > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Sep 21, 2017 6:22 PM UTC  The safest costume: David S. Pumpkins. The safest costume: David S. Pumpkins. NBC—NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Sep 21, 2017 6:22 PM UTC [David S. Pumpkins](http://time.com/4552158/tom-hanks-david-s-pumpkins-halloween/) is one of the great unsung heroes of our time. Besides becoming a notorious Halloween icon after being brought to life by Tom Hanks on an episode of _Saturday Night Live,_ David S. Pumpkins also became a popular [Halloween costume](http://ew.com/article/2016/10/24/david-pumpkins-halloween-costume/) and a hypeman in a memorable [_SNL_](http://time.com/4542944/saturday-night-live-tom-hanks-cut-for-time-sketch/) rap video starring Kenan Thompson. However, it turns out that Hanks’ beloved turn as the spooky character almost didn’t happen. According to a story told by _SNL_ alum Bobby Moynihan on _Late Night With Seth Meyers,_ who wrote the sketch with Mikey Day, Hanks wasn’t sure if the sketch was going to work and even went so far as to suggest that they give it to Chris Hemsworth, who would be hosting the next week’s show. **Read more**: [How to Transform Wooden Pumpkins Into Awesome Halloween Decor](https://www.realsimple.com/holidays-entertaining/holidays/halloween/wooden-pumpkin-designs) Thankfully for us and them, Hanks decided to stick with the skit and [hinted just recently](http://ew.com/tv/2017/09/21/tom-hanks-chris-hemsworth-david-s-pumpkins-snl/) that he might be reprising his role in the near future. Until then, you can watch Moynihan talk about David S. 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