Dane Cook Sheds Light on Missing ‘SNL’ Audition Following ‘Category 5 Anxiety Attack’

Getty

Dane Cook

Dane Cook remains one of the most talked-about names in comedy and recently released a new Netflix documentary, “Funny Money: The Dane Cook Story.” Recently, during an interview, the 54-year-old opened up about landing an audition for “Saturday Night Live” and how a panic attack led to him skipping it.

Dane Cook Says He Doesn’t Regret Missing ‘Saturday Night Live’ Audition

Cook appeared on the “Zach Sang Show” in November 2026 while promoting his documentary. During the conversation, the host asked about SNL and the story of his failed audition for the long-running sketch comedy show. See the clip of this section of the interview here.

“I wish it was as simple as me just making that knee-jerk decision,” he began after the question was framed as him having turned down an audition for “Saturday Night Live” instead of being unable to attend.

“My anxiety and a lot of deep-seated emotional early trauma made it for me. It really was like an uninformed decision of, sort of an unraveling, phobic, and anxiety-riddled kid that was speaking out to say, ‘You’re not ready.'”

After that, Cook clarified that the audition would have been around 1996 before noting that attending it could have “changed my life.” Still, the comedian also credits “saying no” as one of the things that led to his career instead of him becoming “a crony of the show.”

Cook went on to call himself “the Lorne Michaels of my own career” before recalling being at “Saturday Night Live 50” and seeing one of his idols, Martin Short, and knowing his career turned out as it was supposed to.

Dane Cook Opens Up About His Pre ‘SNL’ Audition Anxiety Attack

Later in the interview, Cook detailed the events leading up to his failed “Saturday Night Live” audition.

“Yeah, I sat on a bench out in front of Rockefeller Plaza. I would have what I would call a category five anxiety attack.” From there, he stated that while sitting on the bench and missing the audition, he knew that “the kid that could get on stage and be funny in stand-up because I’m running the show and feel that confidence alone, was not able to politically fight the fight behind the scenes.”

He Previously Discussed His ‘Saturday Night Live’ Audition Experience in 2024

Cook appeared on the “Fly on the Wall” podcast with Dana Carvey and David Spade. When asked about his failed audition, he said, “And on my way to my audition at SNL, I had a full-on panic attack. I sat on a bench outside of Rockefeller Plaza, and I didn’t go in. I actually called my manager.”

In explaining what he believes caused the panic attack, he stated that friends of his who were on the series described the environment as “confrontational.”

“And I was very beta at that time. And I was like, I’m not going to be able to fight for skits. I can barely get my food order out for a waiter at lunch. I’m not going to be able to survive at SNL,” he added.