Saturday Night Live is not an easy show to work on, because it's so demanding. What makes it even harder is trying to juggle it with another project. Now, with Season 50 of SNL airing on the 2024 TV schedule and Wicked out in theaters, Bowen Yang has opened up about what it was like balancing his work on the sketch comedy show with the musical, the requirement Lorne Michaels had for him to do both, and the challenges that came with it all.
The actor and podcaster sat down with another one of his bosses, Will Ferrell, for Interview Magazine (Ferrell owns Big Money Players Network–home of the Las Culturistas podcast). The duo chatted about Yang’s range and the decision to work on Wicked in London and SNL in New York at the same time. When asked about his background in musical theater and joining one of the megahits of the 2024 movie schedule, the Nora From Queens alum revealed he didn’t have that much experience, saying:
I was a dilettante my whole life. Even now, I think people assume that I have this in-depth knowledge of Broadway and musicals, but it’s quite surface-level. I feel like I conned my way into this movie, because they gender-flipped my role. I’m like, ‘Why am I in a scene with Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum?’ I still have impostor syndrome.
Along with feeling imposter syndrome -- which he shouldn't, he's fabulous -- Yang got real about the challenges of filming the show and movie simultaneously.
The Will & Harper star asked about where filming took place and the commute once Yang revealed Wicked shot in London. He said his plans for the crazy work schedule came after his SNL boss laid out the requirements for him to do both:
I was doing Saturday shows and Lorne [Michaels] was like, ‘You can do it if you don’t miss a show.’ And I’m like, ‘No problem. I have my CBD tinctures to adjust to the jet lag, and I have these great green tea caffeine nootropic gels to wake me up. I’ve got this.’ And then I had a mental breakdown. [Laughs.] Because I would do shows on Saturday, then fly first thing Sunday morning, land at night in London, then shoot Monday and Tuesday, then fly back Wednesday.
Did anyone’s head just explode like mine? A regular flight between London and NYC every week is a full-on commitment. It showcases Yang’s dedication to his work, even if it had him in a full mental breakdown initially.
It’s absolutely not sustainable, but there's no questioning how great both projects are. He went on to share the realities of it all and reflect on the whole experience, noting that he will not be doing it again:
And I did that enough times to actually drive me insane. Even though I have no regrets about it, and it’s the honor of my life to do this movie and SNL at the same time, I will never again do the weekly eight-hour round trip.
I’m glad that we have him as one of Glinda’s sidekicks, Pfannee, but I’m even happier he’s done with the hellish commute. And with Part 1 of Wicked complete, he can breathe easily for now (or at least not travel so far for work), and return to just performing in Studio 8H.
However, he's not done working on movies and SNL. You can expect to see Yang on the 2025 movie schedule for the remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 The Wedding Banquet, followed by Part 2 of Wicked, of course. Plus, you can always catch him on NBC every Saturday.
So, here’s hoping the rest of Yang’s SNL days have easier requirements, much shorter commutes, and little to no mental breakdowns. That, and many more successful projects to come for the rising star, because I’m not sure anyone else can pull off the iceberg the Titanic hit, international treasure Moo Deng, and J.D. Vance.
If you’d like to watch Saturday Night Live, you can catch it on the titular night on NBC at 11:30 p.m. ET or stream it with a Peacock subscription. To see the movie Yang filmed at the same time as SNL, you can watch the greatly reviewed Wicked in theaters now.
