Seven-year Saturday Night Live cast member Ego Nwodim is raising some eyebrows after indicating at an Emmys FYC event that she’s begun thinking about a life and and career away from the show.
With the SNL cast in its usual off-season limbo period (even Kenan Thompson says he has yet to sign a contract for next season), GoldDerby reports that Nwodim was among several cast members at the event who were noncommital about their plans for next season.
For Nwodim, apparently a key factor is having the ability to branch out. “I want to create something that feels like it’s mine,” she explained. “I want to showcase some of my other talents, now that I’ve done so much on the show.”
“But I love the show,” she added. “So there’s no telling what happens there or doesn’t.”
Fellow SNL cast member Bowen Yang (whose own possible exit from the show has been widely speculated upon in recent weeks) echoed Nwodim’s comments.
“This is kind of what everyone’s negotiating,” Yang said, reflecting on the “nice sort of collective check-in for everybody” that the cast’s time off from SNL’s milestone 50th season is providing. “I don’t think any of us really had the foresight into what life would be like afterwards, and now that we’re on the other side of it I think we’re all kind of assessing.”
Yang joined the SNL cast six years ago (after a year as a writer), and has since taken on more acting opportunities outside the show—recently appearing in Wicked and The Wedding Banquet.
Heidi Gardner, who set tongues wagging a few months back herself when she admitted to suffering from some “sketch fatigue” after eight seasons at SNL, struck a more philosophical tone when asked about her plans.
“Even with SNL, I always say this as an adult and as I get older: I’m just like, ‘Nothing is ever on our timeline,’” she told the outlet. “I think I’m looking for open doors. I’ve found that sometimes the easiest things that come to me are the most fulfilling ones. So that’s what I’m looking for.”
