Saturday Night Live returns this weekend for its 38th season with three new castmembers Tim Robinson, Aidy Bryant and Cecily Strong with Kristen Wiig, Andy Samberg, and Abby Elliot having made their exits after last season.
And SNL alum Maya Rudolph has a few words for the newbies. “I just hope that they really enjoy it,” she told Celebuzz during a set visit to NBC’s Up All Night.
“I know how stressful it is and how hard it is to come up with your own material and write and the pressure to be on that show,” she adds. “I just hope that they enjoy it, because it’s so much fun.”
What else did the Up All Night star say about her time on SNL?
“I feel like it trained me, no joke. I feel like it gave me Russian army tactic-style comedy training,” Rudolph, 40, says. “Because on SNL, you have to think faster and make changes quicker. And you also realize you can accomplish a lot in a very short amount of time.”
Fellow former SNL star Rachel Dratch guest stars on Up All Night’s upcoming season as singer and ex-talk show host Ava’s (Rudolph) super fan. And the reunion had Rudolph reminiscing about their time on the NBC late night sketch show.
“You realize how fortunate all of us who were on the show together were,” Rudolph explains. “I think we all appreciate being with each other so much, because we really did become a family.”
She continues, “And then when we work together again, we think, ‘Oh my God, this is the way work should be.’ There really should be a support group for people who leave the show, because we’re all dropped back into the real world. There’s nothing else like it. It’s like were all abducted by aliens and we’re this small group of people who know what the other person had went through.”
Up All Night’s creator Emily Spivey was a writer on SNL, as well. And Rudolph says that was one of the reasons she felt comfortable joining the comedy.
“We’ve worked together in that capacity,” she says of reuniting with Spivey. “You know what the other person is capable of and you know that we can get to those things quicker. I never worry about changing stuff, we can change stuff, it’s not a problem. Nothing ever feels written in stone. We know that if it doesn’t work now, it will work later.”
Saturday Night Live returns Saturday at 11:30 PM on NBC. And Up All Night debuts its second season on Thursday at 8:30 PM – also on NBC.
Are you looking forward to seeing what the new castmembers bring to the show? Tell us in the comments section below.
