Kate McKinnon and Amy Poehler both had stand-out runs on Saturday Night Live. McKinnon was on the show for 11 seasons between 2012 and 2022. Poehler was on the show between 2001 and 2008, and has since hosted the show three times. The two hold plenty of records on SNL, and each defined the show in their own ways.
This week, the iconic blonde duo sat down to discuss McKinnon’s career, including her time on SNL. Part of this was Poehler pointing out McKinnon’s natural aptitude on the show, but asking about the moments where she didn’t feel like she was excelling.
“There are people on that show that I felt were naturals. Now whether or not they felt natural is their own personal story,” Poehler explained. “But you, Maya Rudolph, Dana Carvey, Will Ferrell, people who just kind of came onto the show, fit right in and became like instant captains. I always felt that from you, just this calm confidence when you were performing. And it’s interesting to know that inside you were not feeling that way. What did you do when you were not feeling like you did well?”
“There were plenty of desperate failures that haunt me even now,” McKinnon replied. “A lot of failures, and sometimes I’ll still think of something that didn’t work or that I just couldn’t get there in time with the writing or the performing and it still stings and I still feel shame.”
But more than any other specific mistake McKinnon may have made during her time on the show, it was her decision to read about herself on the internet that bothered her the most. “I also have made the terrible mistake of reading stuff on the internet, which I truly wish I could go back and have never looked at the internet because that haunts me as well,” McKinnon recalled. “There are phrases that I have read that were not even that mean, not unfounded, like things with a kernel of truth, thoughtful critiques that I agreed with that have ruined my life.”
Poehler did a great job of getting out more details about McKinnon’s time on the show. “Did you like to rehearse all the time? Were you in your room rehearsing? Were you the kind of performer where you’re in your room before you’re doing your sketch quietly and intensely working on it? Did you like to play around and stay loose before a scene?” Poehler asked.
“If it was like a two-person scene with a lot of lines, I would try to not memorize but become very intimately familiar with the lines,” McKinnon responded.
Poehler explained that this was a necessary strategy on SNL. “Some people don’t really try to do it because it changes a lot at SNL, so sometimes you’re a little screwed if you know your lines too well,” Poehler explained.
As for what McKinnon is onto these days, it’s hard to say. Poehler has found success in TV and now podcasting. McKinnon had one dream, and she knocked it out of the park. “Lez be honest,” McKinnon explained. “I feel like I had one dream. It was SNL. Did it. Done. Loved it. Awesome. Um, not quite sure. Not quite sure what to really be like single-minded about.”
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