By this point in its history, Saturday Night Live has become something of an American institution. Premiering in 1975, it has gone on to become a staple of weekend entertainment, skilfully blending sketch comedy with often-biting political commentary. It has also been notable for cultivating a number of formidable comedic talents, and many successful actors got their start on the show. Over the years, various members of the cast have spoken – some nostalgically, some with relief, and some with disgruntlement – about their reasons for leaving the series.
1. Julia Louis-Dreyfus Was Better Off Without The Misogyny And Drugs
Though she has now become famous for having starred in three different successful sitcoms – Seinfeld, The New Adventures of Old Christine, and Veep – Julia Louis-Dreyfus, like so many other actors, got her start at Saturday Night Live, on which she appeared for three years (from 1982 to 1985). However, her experiences there were not particularly pleasant, as she recounted in 2019: “There were plenty of people on the show who were incredibly funny. I was unbelievably naive and I didn’t really understand how the dynamics of the place worked. It was very sexist, very sexist.” What’s more, drugs were very much a part of the show’s culture:
People were doing crazy drugs at the time. I was oblivious. I just thought, “Oh wow, he’s got a lot of energy,” I don’t know how anybody could work stoned… It was a pretty brutal time, but it was a very informative time for me.
Despite the negativity of the experience, Louis-Dreyfus said she “learned I wasn’t going to do anymore of this show-business crap unless it was fun.” Perhaps more importantly, during her time there she also met Larry David, who would go on to help create the character of Elaine Benes, one of her most indelible roles.
2. Will Ferrell Didn’t Want To Become The Creep In The Parking Lot
During the 1990s, few cast members of Saturday Night Live were as beloved as Will Ferrell. From 1995 to 2002, he showed his formidable comedic skills in a number of characters and impersonations, including George B. Bush, cheerleader Craig Buchanan, and wrestler Jesse Ventura. He injected some much-needed energy into the series during his tenure and, along with the other new cast members, helped to rejuvenate it for a new era.
All good things must come to an end, however, and Ferrell realized this also applied to his tenure on the show. As Lorne Michaels recounted:
[Will] didn’t want to become the guy who had graduated high school but still hung out in his van in the parking lot, picking up seniors.
For his part, Ferrell has spoken at length about how his decision to leave Saturday Night Live was a leap of faith, especially as he had only just begun to become a household name at the time of his departure. Fortunately for him, he achieved significant success in a number of comedy films immediately following this, including Old School and Elf, as well as his partnerings with comedic legend John C. Reilly in Talladega Nights and Step Brothers.
3. Damon Wayans Only Lasted One Season And Was Fired For Insubordination
Damon Wayans, along with the rest of his family, has long been involved with showbusiness. He got his start on Saturday Night Live, but it was not very easy going, and he ended up being fired for one season. By his own account, his termination resulted from his decision to change one of his characters from a straight man to a flamboyantly gay man… without running it by anyone first.
This particularly galled Lorne Michaels, who fired the young actor for insubordination. Far from bitter about the encounter, however, Wayans has gone on the record supporting Michaels in his decision:
I knew I was going to get fired for it. Lorne did the right thing.
Wayans didn’t let the experience sour him, however. He would go on to land a writing position and starring role in the sketch comedy series In Living Color. He appeared in the series from 1990 to 1992.
4. Norm MacDonald May Have Made Too Many O.J. Simpson Jokes
The late Norm Macdonald was a beloved member of the Saturday Night Live cast for several years in the 1990s. With his sardonic, droll wit, he became a favorite for audiences, particularly when he hosted Weekend Update (always one of the most consistently humorous parts of the series). After three years, he was fired from the show though, in his own telling, it was difficult to determine whether he had, in fact, been terminated at all. This was in large part due to Lorne Michael’s reticence. Macdonald recalled:
No one would come right out and tell me what was going on. Lorne has a hard time telling you bad stuff.
The circumstances behind the firing are, if anything, even more controversial. In Macdonald’s own account, he was fired for making too many jokes at the expense of O.J. Simpson (many of which would come out of left field). This seemed to offend producer Don Ohlmeyer, who was a friend of Simpson’s, who pressed to have Macdonald terminated. Despite his firing, Macdonald would go on to have a successful career in film and television before his death in late 2021.
5. Chris Rock Was Let Go After He Looked Into Joining Another Sketch Show
With his particularly abrasive style, Chris Rock has long been one of the most recognized names in comedy. Like many other comedy stars of his generation, he began his rise to fame by appearing on Saturday Night Live, on which he starred from 1990 to 1993. Very quickly, however, he began to grow dissatisfied with some of the things he was asked to do on the series, many of which he (rightly) saw as racist.
As a result, he started looking around for other gigs which wouldn’t have as many of these issues. He was particularly interested in the series In Living Color. As he recounted in an interview:
When I got hired I was the first Black guy in like eight years, and In Living Color was just hip. The s**t was hot. I wanted to be in an environment where I didn’t have to translate the comedy I wanted to do.
Unfortunately, this seemed to be the excuse Saturday Night Live needed to get rid of him, and he was fired shortly after expressing interest in the other show.
In a tragic bit of irony, In Living Color was canceled shortly after Chris Rock arrived. Nevertheless, he would go on to have a successful stand-up career, as well as appearing in a variety of movies, including the very popular and successful Madagascar franchise.
6. The Four Remaining Original ‘Players’ Bailed Alongside Lorne Michaels
In many ways, Lorne Michaels is the beating heart of Saturday Night Live, serving as both its creator and longtime producer. However, as has been the case with many of the members of the cast, he has had his own ups and downs. In one notable instance, he was engaged in a contract dispute with NBC and, when negotiations broke down, he ended up leaving the series altogether.
However, he was not alone in doing so. The four original cast members – Gilda Radner, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, and Laraine Newman – left along with him, as did much of the writing staff. The resulting episode had quite a few dings against the network.
Ultimately, of course, Michaels would return to the show in 1985, and he remains there to this day. To varying degrees, the four cast members who left with him managed to rebuild their careers, though Gilda Radner sadly died just a short time later after a years’ long struggle with cancer.
7. Robert Downey Jr. Just Didn’t Gel With The Rest Of The Cast And Was ‘Ill-Suited’ For Sketch Comedy
Though he is now best-known for playing the character of Tony Stark/Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, for much of the 1980s Robert Downey Jr. was famous for being both a heart-throb and a member of the “Brat Pack.” What is somewhat less well-known, however, is his one-season stint on Saturday Night Live, which occurred in 1985. It quickly became apparent how very not suited he was for this particular role, as he remarked in an interview:
I learned so much in that year about what I wasn’t. I was not somebody who was going to come up with a catchphrase. I was not somebody who was going to do impressions. I was somebody who was very ill-suited for rapid-fire sketch comedy. I was like this seems really hard.
The lackluster experience on the sketch comedy show, however, did not deter Downey Jr. He would become a box office success throughout the 1980s and 1990s. After a period of drug addiction and recovery, he would go on to anchor the MCU.
8. Kristen Wiig Didn’t Anticipate Dancing With Jagger During Her Farewell
With her deadpan delivery and her penchant for creating deliciously off-beat characters, Kristen Wiig became one of the most beloved stars of Saturday Night Live for much of the 2000s (she was a regular cast member from 2005 to 2012). Her last appearance on the series was a particularly memorable one, as she ended up dancing with Mick Jagger (as well as Lorne Michaels). Wiig has spoken eloquently about how emotional the experience was for her:
It was a very surreal moment. You have all this stuff going on in your head, like, “I can’t believe seven years has gone by, and I’m going to miss all these people.” And I’m like, “Oh, by the way, Mick Jagger is to my right, and I just danced a waltz with him.” So there’s that.
By the time she left the series, Wiig had already shown her ability to anchor films of her own, particularly in Bridesmaids, a raunchy women-centered comedy that became a mammoth success. Since then, she has made a number of other notable film appearances, including a starring role in the all-female Ghostbusters in 2016.
9. Chevy Chase Had Love Waiting For Him On The West Coast
Chevy Chase has established himself as one of the most respected comedic actors of his generation, famous for appearing in numerous comedy films spanning several decades. He was, in fact, one of the original members of the cast of Saturday Night Live, beginning in 1975. Very quickly, Chase showed his ease with physical comedy, including a notable sketch in which he portrayed President Gerald Ford.
However, he wasn’t on the series for long, as he left during the second season. Chase has been very open and honest about his reasons for leaving.
I left for a girl that I was in love with. It had nothing to with lucrative film deals awaiting me. I didn’t make a movie for three years. It was just a lot of bunk … I was very much in love with a girl who just would not leave California.
Though he would later find tremendous fame in a number of comedy films – including, most notably, in the National Lampoon’s Vacation series – he would return to host Saturday Night Live on a number of occasions. In one notable incident, he got into a fist fight with Bill Murray, who had actually been his replacement.