Bowen Yang recently revealed that it was Lorne Michaels who persuaded him to stay on “Saturday Night Live (SNL).”
The 34-year-old comedian chose to remain with the show for a fifth season, despite the notable departures of several cast members, including Devon Walker, Emil Wakim, Michael Longfellow, Heidi Gardner, and Ego Nwodim.
In a candid interview with PEOPLE magazine, Yang shared, “I’ve always followed the instinct of, ‘Do I have more to do?’ And I feel like I do.”
He further disclosed, “Lorne [Michaels] and I even talked about it, and he was like, ‘You have more to do,’ and that means a lot because I even confessed to him. I was like, ‘I feel the audience is maybe getting sick of me.’ And he was like, ‘That’s not true. There’s more for you to do. I need you.’”
“That man has changed my life, and I owe a lot of my life to that show. I love working there, the people are the best. I really love each of them so much,” he admitted.
Yang is now set to return for a sixth season but confessed that it will be a bittersweet experience given that many of his co-stars and friends have left.
“What I’ve always thought, what I think everybody knows, is that SNL is this boot camp, and that implies that there is a next phase you train for something else. It’s always a transitional place, and I think it is always a launching pad,” he said.
The Wicked star continued, “Even for people who stay on the show, like Kenan [Thompson], let’s say, he has still used that show to help expand his possibilities. I think that’s going to be true for all of the people who aren’t coming back. I’m so excited to see what they do. I’m excited for the new cast.”
Bowen Yang concluded, “I let that go, and I think it served me well. I like having no roadmap. If there’s any place to do that, it’s SNL, where it’s week to week. Sometimes you’re up for the challenge. Sometimes you show up even if you aren’t, and that’s kind of what makes interesting things happen.”
