Saturday Night Live alum Cecily Strong shares why she can no longer watch the show. Joining the long-running NBC variety show for season 38, the former Second City performer quickly became a standout repertory player for Saturday Night Live. Lasting over nine seasons, Strong departed the show mid-season 48, making her the longest-serving female cast member in the show's history.
While on Andy Cohen's Watch What Happens Live talk show (via ComicBook.com), Strong revealed she can't watch the current season of Saturday Night Live. Recalling how important the show was to her for a large part of her life, tuning in to see her former co-workers would trigger a torrent of emotions. Read what Strong told Cohen below:
"I have to admit, it's hard for me to watch the show right now. I think next year I can start watching it. It's just such a big part of my life and there's so many people that I love there. So I feel like I would just be in a swamp of sadness, just my heart would break. So I gotta keep my distance."
What Has Cecily Strong Done Since Her SNL Departure
Joining Saturday Night Live in 2012, Strong immediately proved herself as one of the show's most versatile cast members. During her tenure, she created nearly a dozen recurring characters, performed over 36 celebrity impersonations, and co-anchored Weekend Update with Seth Meyers and current co-anchor Colin Jost. She ended her Saturday Night Live stint with two emotional moments during season 48's Christmas episode. The first saw the comedian return to Weekend Update one last time as Cathy Anne, Michael Che's drug-addicted neighbor. The second saw Elvis star Austin Butler and the cast serenade Strong with Presley's "Blue Christmas."
As her time came to a close on the sketch comedy show, Strong began to branch out in other media. She headlined the 2022 Off-Broadway revival of Jane Wagner's The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe and continued filming Apple TV+'s musical comedy series Schmigadoon!. Starring opposite Key & Peele's Keegan-Michael Key, Strong plays Dr. Melissa Gimble, who finds herself lost with her boyfriend in the eponymous town, a surreal community where its citizens are trapped in a Golden Age-style musical.
Releasing November 22, Strong next lends her vocal talents to Adam Sandler's animated Netflix film Leo, which sees the Billy Madison star voice the titular character, a jaded 74-year-old lizard who has been stuck in a Florida elementary school's classroom terrarium for years. The Saturday Night Live alum will also voice a character in Garfield, an animated adaptation of the cartoon character starring Chris Pratt as the titular orange tabby. Strong can currently be seen in Schmigadoon! season 2, now streaming on Apple TV+.
Source: Watch What Happens Live (via ComicBook.com)