We’re celebrating 50 years of “Saturday Night Live” ! All this week, we’re digging into the late-night comedy institution with new stories, including lists, essays, interviews, and more.
In one episode of Peacock’s SNL50 documentary, Bobby Moynihan shares that when he was cast, Seth Meyers told him no one would ever want to talk about anything else. When IndieWire spoke with former cast member Aidy Bryant this week, we had to know: True?
“Mostly,” she confirmed with a laugh. “Honestly, I’m always kind of touched when people come up to me on the street about other work, which happens more than you’d think. But I also think ‘SNL’ is kind of the most interesting thing that’s ever happened to me, so I’m happy to talk about it. You know, it’s an insane thing.”
So when she’s accosted, what do people want to scream about? Lil’ Baby Aidy? Sarah Huckabee Sanders?
“That’s kind of the charm of ‘SNL,’” she said. “I think everyone has their own relationship to their favorites or whatever. But I get asked a lot about ‘Dyke and Fats,’ randomly, which is a deep cut, but people really like it.”
If there’s justice, “Dyke and Fats” — which finds Bryant and Kate McKinnon as the plainly-named crimefighting duo — will get a place of honor when the comedy institution celebrates its 50th anniversary with a three-hour primetime special on February 16; Bryant, whose tenure ran from 2012-2022, will be in attendance.
After that, she’ll be hosting the 40th annual Independent Spirit Awards, following her well-received turn last year which found the comedian doing a “classic awards show roast,” which involved playfully dragging the celebs in the room by simply calling them mean names, in a goofy, big-hearted send-up of the kind of digs that tend to populate award show monologues.
“I was really sort of touched by how loving the feedback in the room was as I did it,” she said. “I feel like that was certainly one of the things I heard the most about post-show was calling people ‘stupid bitches.’ But I don’t think I’m going to do anything exactly the same. I feel like I just want to bring [a] kind of similar no pressure slash let’s just have fun kind of experience.”
The dream, frankly. So we kept the vibes going asking Bryant about the independent movies she loves, live-show nerves, and why she won’t be donning the Ted Cruz wig ever again.
The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
IndieWire: Do you remember the first independent movie you saw that you really loved?
Aidy Bryant: I feel like toward the end of high school, I became obsessed with going to my local independent, cool movie theater, and it pretty much was my mecca. I was like, “Oh, this is my whole deal.” And I feel like the year that I graduated high school, it was like, “You and Me and Everyone We Know,” Miranda July, “Squid and the Whale.” I was like, “Oh, this is my indie deal. I want to be twee and enjoying this kind of thing.”
“Oh, I’m the only one who gets this.“
Completely. I was like, “Oh, my God, I’m in Arizona. This is so my vibe.” It wasn’t my vibe, by the way. I was more like, sunburned, but I was vibing!
Indie Spirits have such a good track record of recommending great movies. I’m curious if there’s a nominee this year that you thought should have gotten more Oscar love.
Honestly, I really loved “Janet Planet.” I really loved “Good One.” I thought those were really tender, sweet, and kind of brutal movies in a lot of ways that I think should have gotten more love.
I want to ask you about an “SNL” sketch I really love. For “Girlfriends Talk Show,” you found a niche on the show playing these young, awkward, horny characters like Morgan. Do you remember when it clicked for you like, “Oh, this is funny,” or “This is what audiences really like to see from me”?
I think it was less that I [thought], “Oh, audiences like this,” and it was more, I was coming from Chicago, doing sketch and improv, and I had felt so comfortable there, and then I got “SNL,” and I had never been on camera; I had never done anything like that, so I feel like it was maybe “Girlfriends Talk Show,” partially because the way it’s shot, you’re just sitting in one spot. The cue cards are right there, which is kind of similar to how “Update” is, but it really allowed me to settle in and actually perform and have fun, as opposed to just being [a] deer in headlights, like what’s happening!? So I feel like part of that was just my comfort rose so much, which then allowed me to actually put it into high gear a bit!
Was reading the cue cards and learning how to incorporate that with your performance something that you had to pick up? I imagine that’s not typically how it’s done at other sketch places.
I think it’s also something that’s really only done mostly in that building. Seth Meyers and Jimmy do it on their shows. I think they’ve brought it with them from “SNL,” but it’s so uniquely “SNL.” And yeah, I think it takes a little bit of time to learn how to use them in a way that doesn’t look bad, and also to start to really understand where the cameras are. I mean, because it’s live, it’s a lot. There’s a lot of technical elements.
I think that’s something that most people maybe don’t realize: Part of the reason your favorite “SNL” cast member is your favorite is because they have a huge handle on the technical elements, and they’re using that to make their performances even better. Kenan is an amazing example of that. He really knows every camera, whose shot is what. And you use that stuff.
Bill Hader has said he was kind of nervous the whole way through his tenure. Did you have a moment where you were less nervous? Or were there always some kind of butterflies?
Honestly, I feel like I went on a real journey with that where my first couple years, I was always nervous and always scared and really wanted to execute correctly. And then I think as I settled in, I was like, “OK, now I just want to perform and have fun and write things that feel like me.” And then I think as I got more comfortable, and then toward the end, I really was not nervous, and I felt like, “Oh, maybe I could be a support to some of these newer people.” So then by the end, I think when I was really not feeling nervous anymore, I was like, “I think it’s time for me to go!” — I should be feeling more nervous.
So then you got into hosting!
Exactly! Now this is something I feel nervous for, for sure.
Have you been back for an “SNL” taping since you left the show?
Actually, I just did when I was in New York. A couple weeks ago, I was doing a play with Lin-Manuel Miranda [“All In: Comedy About Love”], and he got the call to go and be in the cold open so we went and watched Lin, and then it was really fun to be backstage and say hi to everybody.
Do you typically watch these days?
I always watch. I think I always will watch. It’s like visiting old friends, honestly, and I love it, you know? I mean, there’s so many people still on the show who I was there working with, so I love to text Mikey or Heidi or Chloe or Bowen or Sarah, and say, “I loved that one!”
What was your barometer when you were on the show in terms of, “Oh, I think the sketch is really breaking through!” Was it YouTube numbers? Was it Lorne saying something? Was it your own friends and family?
I don’t know. I really wasn’t tracking that. I think I was always like, “OK, we made it through. On to the next one!” That is kind of a nice part of being in the fire of “SNL” is you barely have time to celebrate your wins because you’re on to your next battle.
Well, one of your big wins for me was all the music videos that you and the other ladies did. Those are some of my all-time absolute favorites, “Twin Bed” and “Back Home Ballers.” What do you remember about filming those numbers?
Gosh, I mean one, they were insanely fun to shoot, and we mostly did all those with our brilliant director, Oz Rodriguez. He was the first person who came to me and he was like, “You guys should do an all-girls music video.” So that was kind of his vision.
Honestly, my main memory of those was how hard they were to write, because it’s like a math problem with riddles and jokes and you want things to rhyme. And those were some of our toughest writing nights. And Kate plays the piano, so she and I and Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider, who we wrote those with, we would just be banging it out at three in the morning, hoping for the best. By the time we did it at the table read, we were always like, “I don’t know anymore!”
I feel like some of the most famous “SNL” moments are when the politicians stop by and are onscreen with people playing them. That was never going to happen for you with Sarah Huckabee Sanders. So I’m curious if the pressure was off at that point, or are you more nervous playing someone like that versus a no-name random sketch person?
Honestly, I’m like, so not an impressionist. I feel like I’m really more of a true sketch girlie. So I was always struggling with those, and I was always hopeful that I wouldn’t have to do it. I mean, people knew, I think it was kind of a running joke on the staff, whenever I had to play Ted Cruz, I was completely depressed. …I was always like, “Oh no, I don’t want to be in this stuff.” I feel pretty lucky. I got to sneak away without ever having to do [all] that.
Do you remember the first “SNL” sketch you personally were obsessed with?
Oh, my gosh. I mean, tough to say. I had a lot of favorites. Obviously, I loved the cheerleaders or cowbell, or some of those classics, but I really loved this sketch “Dog Show” that was Molly Shannon and Will Ferrell. That was one of my all-time favorites. And I would quote it all the time.
Is there something over your tenure that you’re most proud of getting on air?
There was one that I wrote with Mikey Day that was called, like, “Waterbed Warehouse,” I think. And it was so not a viral sketch, but we loved it so much.
“Saturday Night Live: 50th Anniversary Special” will air on Sunday, February 16. The Independent Spirit Awards hosted by Aidy Bryant will air Saturday, February 22.
