Summary
Ah, awards season!
COLLIDER: I grew up watching you on SNL.
I was in seventh grade when you joined the cast.
AIDY BRYANT: Oh my gosh.
So this is just breaking my middle school brain.
BRYANT: That’s so cool!
Image via NBC
I feel like that’s the prime time for watching.
End of middle school, beginning of high school.
That’s like your cast, you know?
Image via NBC
Thank you for taking the time to talk.
I have a ton of questions spanning your career, so I’m just going to dive right in.
Your first week atSNL.
Image via NBC
Do you have any specific memories?
Who maybe went out of their way to be nice to you?
Who intimidated you that maybe you realized you shouldn’t have been afraid of?
Image via NBC
BRYANT: Oh man.
I mean, my first week atSNLwas so scary.
I think that’s probably the most scared I’ve ever been in my life.
Image via HBO
It’s just because there’s no way for someone to explain the experience of it.
You’re learning everything so new, like cue cards and all that stuff.
Tons of people went out of their way to be nice to me.
Seth Meyers, especially.
He was the head writer then, and so he was very instrumental and encouraging.
I was so grateful.
The four of us were the new guys.
It was Don Pardo who announced our names, which was just really cool.
I had one line in my very first show, and that was it.
It was like, “Oh my God, I did it.”
I was like, “Holy hell, this is it.”
I was gonna say, did you practice that line for like the whole week?
BRYANT:I was completely like, “I gotta nail this line!”
Yeah, for sure.
BRYANT: So much.
Just kind of all the pieces that go into actually making the show.
Movie posters as decor, get effed!
Obviously,SNLis a team sport.
Start at 20% so you could build your way up to 100.
Stuff like that that can apply in a lot of places.
It’s always really good advice.
I think of a lot of stuff he said like that.
But the sketch “I Can’t” where both of your arms are broken… Is there anything you remember?
Who came up with it?
BRYANT: So that was Michael Che’s sketch.
I didn’t help write it at all.
It was like a gift from a friend.
Then we just had so much fun all week.
I loved having those big fake casts on my arms.
I actually feel like I played multiple women with double broken arms.
[Laughs] It’s maybe my signature thing.
I know there is more than one, which I feel is rare for somebody.
[Laughs]
BRYANT: Very bizarre.
The trend forecasters with Bowen [Yang].
Just the hair and makeup alone is pretty fantastic.
That felt like maybe a bit you guys had that became a Weekend Update sketch.
Then we wrote it with our friend Celeste Yim, and it was just a blast.
That’s still, to this day, one of my favorite things.
The costume department really rocked that one down.
And really, I mean, the wigs too.
BRYANT: They’re, like, so stupid.
Yeah, the lighting.
It’s really fun.
I love that one.
Okay, “A Girl’s Halloween.”
BRYANT: Oh my God, that was really fun.
“Twin Bed.”
You were nominated for an Emmy for that.
So that was kind of where it started.
So, it was a little too real.
That’s a big hit with my parents.
They love that song.
My dad has it on his phone.
BRYANT: [Laughs] I love that.
He loves it, so he’s very excited.
I wish you did this character more.
I think you did it twice “Study Buddy” with Kate McKinnon, Jason.
BRYANT:[Laughs] Oh, yes.
I love that one, too.
How did you develop that character?
Kate was a littletooreal.
That was like, that might be who she is in her spirit.
When you come up on the screen, the audience just loses it, and rightfully so.
Then last but not least, “Girlfriends Talk Show.”
Obviously, you’re close to Cecily.
How did that collaboration happen?
BRYANT: That was exactly it.
She’s so funny in those sketches.I love performing with Cecily.
It’s like performing with a bomb.She’s just so powerful and those were just really fun.
It was really early on, too.
That’s a huge deal for someone starting out.
It was maybe my fifth show or something.
You were in one of my favorite things of last year,Fantasmas.
BRYANT: [Laughs] Oh, yes.
Nominated for a Spirit Award, by the way.
I’m so happy for Julio [Torres].Problemista, too.
That character is probably my favorite of the whole show.
BRYANT:No, you just trust.
He’s a genius, and I feel really lucky that we worked together atSNL.
That was something that he had written atSNL, I think, that we tried.
Of course,SNLwas like, “No….” but it’s a perfect fit for his show.
Why do you think the cowgirl is shy?
So when you got the call for the first hosting gig, how nervous were you?
I love independent films.
I’m just a fan.
So, it was something where I was like, “You know what?
This could be fun.
So let’s go for it.
Did you talk to any of your friends who have hosted other things to get their input?
What’d you think?”
She was like, “Go for it.
It was fun.”
They all said it was fun.
So, here I am a second time around!
It seems kind of like the best award show to host.
BRYANT: I think so!
Because it’s very cool and fun, but also really cares about the art.
I think it’s a really special chance to honor these artists and what they’ve done.
People don’t realize how many things have to get approved to get something made.
Its just incredible to make something.
Have you seen a lot of the projects?
Are there any that you’re particularly excited about?
BRYANT: Yeah, I’ve been doing a deep dive.
I’ve watched almost everything now.
I think I have a couple left.
I’m a die-hard.
I’m a fan.
They’re all good!
I love one of the first things you said last year.
I wrote it down.
I wanted to get it right.
“Hey, Natalie, you stupid bitch,” to Natalie Portman.
Did you give any of the people that you were “roasting” a heads-up?
I knew they could all take it.
Generally speaking, I don’t want to make anyone feel bad.
I’m really here to celebrate what these people have done, and I really am a fan.
SoI just want to make it a fun and special night.
I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel, either.
I just want to have a good time.
So that’s kind of my only goal, and I think we’re gonna achieve it.
Yeah, if it ain’t broke, you know.
BRYANT: Oh, man.
Oh, there’s lots of people.
But you know what?
Thank you for talking to me.
BRYANT: Thank you!
Thank you for all the kind questions and all the thoughts!
