Lorne Michaels had one demand for Bowen Yang to make SNL and evil. Bowen Yang thought he had it: ‘And then I had a mental breakdown’

On November 29, 2024By Littum

Saturday Night Live is not an easy show to work on because it is so demanding. What makes it even more difficult is trying to juggle it with another project. Now with season 50 of SNL broadcast in 2024 TV program and Evil out in theaters, Bowen Yang has opened up about what it was like balancing his work on the sketch comedy show with the musical, Lorne Michaels’ demands on him to do both, and the challenges that came with it all.

The actor and podcaster sat down with another of his bosses, Will Ferrell, for Interview Magasinet (Ferrell owns the Big Money Players Network – home of Las Culturistas podcast). The duo talked about Yang’s reach and the decision to work on Evil in London and SNL in New York at the same time. When asked about his background in musical theater and joining one of the mega hits 2024 movie schedulethe Nora from Queens alum revealed that he didn’t have much experience, saying:

I was a dilettante all my life. Even now, I think people assume that I have this in-depth knowledge of Broadway and musicals, but it’s pretty surface level. I feel like I tricked myself into this movie because they gender reversed my role. I’m like, ‘Why am I in a scene with Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum?’ I still have imposter syndrome.

Along with feeling impostor syndrome—which he shouldn’t, he’s fabulous—Yang really realized the challenges of shooting the show and the movie simultaneously.

The Will and Harper star asked about where filming took place and the commute when Yang revealed Evil shot in London. He said his plans for the crazy work schedule came after his SNL the boss set out the requirements for him to be able to do both:

I was doing Saturday shows and Lorne (Michaels) said, “You can do it if you don’t miss a show.” And I say, ‘No problem. I have my CBD tinctures to adjust to jet lag and I have these amazing green tea caffeine nootropic gels to wake me up. I have this.’ And then I had a mental breakdown. (Laughs.) Because I would do shows on Saturday, then fly out first thing on Sunday morning, land at night in London, then shoot on Monday and Tuesday, then fly back on Wednesday.

Has anyone’s head just exploded like mine? A regular flight between London and NYC every week is a full commitment. It shows Yang’s dedication to his work, even though it had him in a complete mental breakdown at first.

It’s definitely not sustainable, but there’s no doubting how big both projects are. He went on to share the realities of it all and reflect on the whole experience, noting that he won’t do it again:

And I did that enough times to actually drive me insane. Although I have no regrets and it is the honor of my life to do this movie and SNL at the same time, I will never again make the weekly eight-hour round trip.

I’m glad we have him as one of Glinda’s sidekicks, Pfannee, but I’m even happier that he’s done with the hellish commute. And with part 1 of Evil complete, he can breathe easy for now (or at least not travel as far for work) and get back to just performing at Studio 8H.

However, he is not finished working on films and SNL. You can expect to see Yang on 2025 movie schedule for Ang Lee’s 1993 remake The wedding banquetfollowed by part 2 of Evilof course. Plus, you can always catch him on NBC every Saturday.

So here’s hoping the rest of Yang’s SNL days have lighter demands, much shorter commutes and few or no mental breakdowns. That, and many more successful projects on the way for the rising star, because I’m not sure anyone else can pull the iceberg off the Titanic hit, international treasure Moo Deng, and JD Vance.

If you want to see Saturday Night Live, you can catch it on title night on NBC at 11:30 PM ET or stream it with one Peacock subscription. Watching the movie Yang filmed at the same time as SNLyou can see the highly reviewed Evil in theaters now.