Conan O’Brien recently shared a funny story about how Tom Hanks managed to recharge his batteries during his preparation time for one of his many Saturday evening live organize concerts.

Hanks was a guest on O’Brien’s podcast, Conan O’Brien needs a friendwhere the actor, who was also a former SNL writer – remembered Hanks’ multiple appearances in the iconic BNC sketch show. Since 1985, the Here the star hosted SNL a total of 10 times, and O’Brien had nothing but praise for his energy.

“He would show up, caffeinated, ready to go, like, ‘Hey! Hello everyone. What have you got?’ “, recalls O’Brien with admiration.

O’Brien then described the usual behavior of most hosts: “Most hosts hang around a little bit. They feel sadness, despair, smell odors and leave. Then they come back refreshed to reading,” referring to the long and sometimes exhausting week of writing leading up to the live performance.

However, Hanks was different. Even after long hours of work, his energy does not weaken. O’Brien shared a hilarious memory of a particularly late writing session in 1988. “I came out, and there’s this giant (table) in the conference room, and you were sitting there, and you were working on your own idea. “, remembers O’Brien. “They had gathered all the tables and you were lying on the tables like Christ, with a few pages over your eyes, because you were trying to catch a few winks before waking up and starting to write again at three o’clock in the morning.”

Hanks, amused by the memory, commented, “I always heard that was the great power of blocking.” You got there, and all Monday night and all Tuesday night you go there. Now they kind of take the host, but I wanted to get in there and mix things up.

Hanks’ willingness to dive in and work with the writers, as well as his ability to take naps, paid off. Over the years he has become a recurring character SNL favorite. In fact, his iconic David S. Pumpkin sketch is considered one of the show’s most memorable moments.

Hanks nevertheless revealed that he learned a valuable lesson when it came to suggesting his own sketch ideas. “You say, ‘Hey, I have some ideas for some sketches,’ and every writer goes, ‘Well, that’s just great. You have ideas that will take away the opportunity for us to get our ideas read. Like It’s wonderful,’” he joked with O’Brien.

His conclusion? “You’re the host,” Hanks said. “Focus on the monologue, then leave. But it’s an excellent move.