There is a fairly large number of comedians who auditioned for Saturday Night Live but didn’t make the cut. That includes Donald Glover, Ellie Kemper, Jim Carrey, Kevin Hart, and the subject of this story Aubrey Plaza. However, there was more to the Parks and Recreation alums story with the sketch comedy show than the other mentioned, because she used to intern at Studio 8H. Now she’ll make her return to 30 Rock to host SNL as part of the Season 48 lineup, completing her “master plan,” and hopefully, playing some of the characters she revealed were used during her audition.
SNL alum Jimmy Fallon asked Plaza how she feels about hosting, and she said she was “scared,” however, unlike some SNL hosts, I'd assume she's not scared of the unknown of it all, because she used to work there. She actually has a lot of experience working at 30 Rock, because she was an intern at the legendary sketch show. The Parks and Recreation star explained that while she didn’t care much for working in the set design department, she did learn a thing or two while working at SNL, saying on The Tonight Show:
I studied like a sponge. I was just like creepy, I was a creepy stalker. Now, I’m going to host it so my master plan worked.
Following her internship, Plaza also auditioned for Saturday Night Live, however, it didn’t work out the way she planned. While she didn’t make it to the stage of auditions that we viewers have all seen, she did do a first-round showcase at UCB, and showed off some original characters. The actress explained one character, saying:
I remember one character I did was kind of like a Puerto Rican news reporter that was always trying to make all the news stories sexy, even if they were like horrific news stories. I was just trying to sex up the news, or something. I don’t remember.
Then she recalled a character and talk show she came up with for the audition, and low-key, I hope it happens during the show this Saturday. Plaza said:
And then the other one I was like a pill-popping housewife that had my own talk show called ‘Celebri-tails’ where I would just name celebrities and name what kind of tail they would have if they had a tail. I would say Lindsay Lohan would have like a bushy squirrel’s tail or like Bill Clinton would have like a polar bear's nub…anyway, I didn’t get on the show.
While the audition may not have gone the way she wanted, clearly things have worked out extremely well for Plaza. She burst onto the scene and into our hearts as the cold-hearted April Ludgate on Parks and Recreation, where she was part of some of the show’s best inside jokes. However, it’s been over the course of 2022 and now 2023 that the actress has entered a new level of stardom.
Not only was she part of the stunning Season 2 cast of White Lotus, she also starred in and produced an indie movie that is killing it on Netflix called Emily the Criminal. On top of all that, she’s set to star alongside Kathryn Hahn in the upcoming MCU series on the 2023 TV schedule Agatha: Coven of Chaos. Plus, you’ll be able to watch Plaza on SNL this Saturday at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC or with a Peacock subscription.
So, in short, I think it’s safe to say her master plan worked…
