Bowen Yang shocked fans when he suddenly announced a mid-season “Saturday Night Live” departure, and now, he’s using his podcast, “Las Culturistas,” to stand up to those who criticized his Emmy-nominated performance on the NBC sketch comedy show.
Bowen Yang’s Brave Podcast Remarks
GettyOn the latest episode of his podcast, Yang discussed his decision to leave “SNL” early. “The current entertainment ecosystem is so turbulent that people have completely valid reasons for staying longer, or in a lot of cases, don’t have the privilege of staying on as long as they would like to. I have this very beautiful thing where I get to say that I stayed on exactly as long as I wanted to,” Yang said, putting to rest any questions on whether or not his departure was his choice.
Yang went on to explain some of the criticism he received during his six years on the long-running late-night show. “I feel like I was really bogged down the entire time I was there about the idea that there was no range in anything I did,” he said.
However, Yang knew where he fit in on the comedy show. “I knew I was never gonna play the dad. I was never gonna play the generic thing in sketches. It’s a sketch show; each thing is like four minutes long. It is short and collapsed by necessity, so therefore it plays on archetypes,” he explained.
Yang also attributed his identity to why some people disliked him on “SNL.” “People had their over-determinations on what I was, which was: ‘Oh, that’s just the gay Asian guy on “SNL.”‘ So anytime I would try to work outside of that, it got completely ignored or it still got collapsed to, ‘Oh, he’s being gay and Asian as always,’” Yang told his podcast cohost, Matt Rogers.
Bowen Yang’s ‘SNL’ Career
GettyYang originally joined “SNL” as a writer for one season before being promoted to featured cast member. During his second season as a cast member, Yang became the first featured “SNL” cast member to be nominated for an Emmy Award.
After two years, Yang was upped to repertory status, at which he continued to get nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
In addition to “SNL” sketches, Yang has appeared in award-winning movies. Most recently, he appeared in “Wicked: For Good” alongside Ariana Grande, and the film’s predecessor, “Wicked.” Fans can also watch him alongside Oscar-winner Lily Gladstone in “The Wedding Banquet” and hear his voice in various episodes of “The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy.”
