Bowen Yang has been a Saturday Night Live standout since becoming a cast member in 2019, as he's made a serious impression through big performances like his already-iconic Titanic sketch. At this point, one would imagine that his star will only continue to rise. Still, being on the storied show can be a double-edged sword for any performer, and Yang isn't immune to that. Luckily for him, he received a great piece of advice from executive producer Lorne Michaels that he tries to stick to on the sketch show and in his personal life.
The SNL star opened up the late-night impresario’s sage advice while promoting his funny and socially conscious film Fire Island, in which he performed a Britney Spears musical number. Working on a weekly sketch show can be quite a feat, to say the least. Yang spoke about Monday being his most creative day, during which he usually has a list of “half-baked ideas” to make a great sketch. While handling creative processes like these can be difficult, the actor told the Wall Street Journal Magazine that Lorne Michaels has helped instill a sense of patience within him when it comes to crafting entertainment for an audience:
Give people somewhere to go, and that’s something that Lorne Michaels has told me a lot. Too many times in sketches, I’ll be so tempted to come in at a 10 and try to sustain that for five minutes and that’s not really how people consume a piece of writing or entertainment. They need that arc to ramp up to something that really hits by the end. Working at SNL has taught me that you should have some patience, that you should not underestimate your audience’s patience, that you should probably apply that to life.
I think most would agree that that's good advice. The NBC show can be a crash course in learning about pleasing viewers (and performers, in some cases). Given how haphazard SNL can be at times, Bowen Yang seems more than willing to cultivate his ideas to provide the best product. And with the The Lost City actor's career only taking off, his colleague's wisdom is certainly something he'd want to take to heart. And it's a good thing he's learning such a thing early on as well.
It's been great to watch the actor has get additional credits under his belt. In addition to Fire Island (streamable with a Hulu subscription), he'll also be seen in the rom-com Bros, which arrives in theaters on September 30. And on the small screen, he had a recurring role on the Comedy Central series Nora from Queens. There's also his podcast, Las Culturistas, which he hosts with fellow comedian Matt Rogers. His schedule may be busy, but the multihyphenate isn’t trying to spread himself thin -- as evidenced by his Instagram. Let's hope his star only continues to shine and that he holds on to the words of one of Hollywood's most successful producers.
Bowen Yang will be returning to Saturday Night Live this fall after Season 47 saw the departures of four key players, including Pete Davidson and Kate McKinnon. The finale was likely an emotional affair for Yang and his remaining colleagues, to say the least. The upcoming season’s premiere date has not been announced yet, but keep an eye on CinemaBlend's 2022 TV schedule for updates on that front.
