Watch: Who Is Nate Bargatze? What to Know About the Emmys 2025 HostNate Bargatze can recall the precise moment-live from New York-that his career skyrocketed. It was pal Jimmy Fallon who recommended the Nashville-based comic to serve as Saturday Night Live's host in October 2023 as the rest of Hollywood was on strike. At that point, the 46-year-old-set to host the Emmys 2025 Sept. 14-had released five comedy specials, including his Grammy-nominated 2021 Netflix hour, The Greatest Average American. "I'd just sold out the Oklahoma City Thunder arena that week," he recently reflected to The Hollywood Reporter, "but I didn't go in, like, 'You should know who I am,' because why should they? I knew that that was a different audience, and that I had to murder." And he slayed, Bargatze opening his monologue with his signature brand of self-deprecation. "Look, if you're at home, I'm as shocked as you are that I'm here," he cracked before launching into 10 minutes of jokes about being "from the 1900s" and growing up attending county fairs with rides "that were on the interstate an hour ago." The episode-complete with Bargatze's now-viral "Washington's Dream" sketch-earned the series its highest ratings in nearly a year. photosEmmys 2025 Nominations: Snubs and SurprisesBargatze, meanwhile, netted a second SNL hosting gig the next year, inked a book deal for Big Dumb Eyes and sold the script for his 2026 film The Breadwinner that has him starring opposite Mandy Moore. Plus, he continued to steadily fill tour seats with even more fans clamoring to catch his G-rated everyman persona IRL. "I was doing arenas before," he told THR, "but I joke that SNL added the second arena." And after his Emmys hosting gig at L.A.'s Peacock Theater? He's going to (build) Disney World, fully serious about a plan to add a theme park (on the site of the now-shuttered Opryland) to his burgeoning Nateland empire of specials, podcasts, merch and movies. "There's this part of me that's like, 'Guys, how did you let me get this far?'" Bargatze mused to THR. "It's like, 'Your system was all I wanted. Why would you not just let me be a part of it? Why did you not see me?' And there's still someone in Hollywood going, 'Wait, who is he? Oh yeah, that comedian.'" For those that know little more about that comedian than his proposal to keep Emmys acceptance speeches brief by subtracting from a planned $100,000 Boys & Girls Club donation for each victor that goes long, we've got your big dumb guide. Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty ImagesWho is Nate Bargatze? The son of Carole Bargatze, who worked in the ticket office for Vanderbilt University, and Stephen Bargatze, a clown-turned-magician who now joins Bargatze on tour, the native of Old Hickory, Tenn. and his two siblings were raised in a devoutly Christian household. "I had '80s and '90s Christian parents," he cracked in his 2023 Amazon Prime special Hello, World. "Well, that's the most Christian you can get of the Christian. I think Jesus had more fun than I did." Dropping out of Western Kentucky University, he worked at Applebee's (where he met now-wife Laura Bargatze) and as a meter-reader before deciding to take a stab at his childhood dream of working in comedy. Known for his clean jokes and deadpan delivery, Bargatze generally takes aim at himself, having made self-deprecation his trademark. (One of his most famous anecdotes involves his struggles ordering at Starbucks.) "Yes, I'm talking about myself, and I'm making fun of myself, but the material's written for you," he explained to The New York Times. "I'm doing it to make you laugh. You can laugh with me or at me. You relate to it, or you think I'm an idiot. Either way, I'm here to entertain you."Why was Nate Bargatze tapped to host the Emmys? He has a theory. Bargatze cracked that part of his draw is that he's fairly apolitical, has a wide, family-friendly appeal and doesn't reside on either coast. "Why did they pick me to do it?" he posed to Esquire in May. "Well, the election probably helped." The way he saw it, it had producers asking, "Who doesn't live in L.A.? Who's available?" Pal Marc Maron, though, has a different take, telling the mag, "He's bigger than what's going on socially. Because of his talent and point of view and the way he does comedy, which is truly unique, he would've been a big star no matter where the culture is."Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty ImagesWhy was Nate Bargatze tapped to host the Emmys? He has a theory. Bargatze cracked that part of his draw is that he's fairly apolitical, has a wide, family-friendly appeal and doesn't reside on either coast. "Why did they pick me to do it?" he posed to Esquire in May. "Well, the election probably helped." The way he saw it, it had producers asking, "Who doesn't live in L.A.? Who's available?" Pal Marc Maron, though, has a different take, telling the mag, "He's bigger than what's going on socially. Because of his talent and point of view and the way he does comedy, which is truly uni