While Saturday Night Live has been around for almost half a century, and it's fun to have a constantly rotating cast, it's never easy to say goodbye to fan favorites. The last few years have been especially rough because multiple cast members left after Season 47, including Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon, Alex Moffat, Aidy Bryant, and more. It's been a year now since these departures, so Ego Nwodim opened up about the “grand exodus” that happened, and what it was like losing so many of her castmates around the same time.
While speaking with THR about her time on SNL, Ego Nwodim, who joined the long-running NBC variety series in 2018, got candid about what it was like losing a handful of her castmates last year. She explained that it was "scary" having so many mainstays leave at once, saying:
That’s a lot of people — incredible performers and pillars of the show — to leave all at once. It was scary having them go, but it also was like, ‘OK, you might get the ball now, and you’ve been wanting the ball.’ Everything works out how it’s supposed to, even if that can be a frustrating thing to hear at times. I got the room to learn from these people, and now I have the space to demonstrate the skills I learned.
SNL's Season 47 finale was emotional, as we all said goodbye to so many rockstars, however, it sounds like Ego Nwodim found the silver lining as well. With a cast as large as SNL’s, it’s hard to give every member screen time, and typically the vets star in more of the sketches, as newer comedians work their way up. Nwodim elaborated on this idea, noting that there's more room to "breathe" now, and she's been able to "capitalize" on what she's learned over the years, explaining:
When I got there, it was a pretty big class, and so having the actual space as a first- and second-year performer when the show had so many people that the audience had grown to love was quite challenging. But the grand exodus that occurred [in 2022] created space. By that point, I’d had more experience to understand what works at the show and how my voice fits. There was a space to actually capitalize on that because there was room in the cast, and we could breathe a little bit.
Season 48 of SNL opened the door for cast members to step up and allowed quite a few new comedians in. It was also great to see SNL stars, like Nwodim, step up to the plate and really get the chance to shine.
In September, ahead of Season 48’s premiere, creator Lorne Michaels discussed the eight exits and why it was actually a good thing for SNL. Much like Ego Nwodim’s thinking, Michaels said that a lot of people weren’t getting “enough playing time” because of the large cast. Due to the pandemic, some of the cast that was planning on leaving didn’t, so they stuck around for a bit longer than expected, making for a bigger group. It was also a reason why so many left at once.
Even though SNL lost some cast members, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be the last time fans see them. Pete Davidson nearly hosted SNL towards the end of Season 48, but due to the writers’ strike, his episode was canceled. It’s possible he could host during Season 49, but it likely depends on the strike and Davidson’s schedule. Hopefully, other alums like Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant also come back and host too.
While we miss these cast members dearly, it's been fun to see comedians like Ego Nwodim get their chance in the spotlight, and absolutely kill it on SNL, which you can go back and witness with a Peacock subscription.
