EDDIE MURPHY WAS DESPERATE TO BE CAST ON SNL.
In an effort to be considered for the show, Eddie Murphy called SNL talent coordinator Neil Levy every day for a week explaining how desperately he needed the job. Levy decided he’d give Murphy a job as an extra, but brought him in to audition as well. His audition went so well that he was given a contract right away.
CONAN O’BRIEN WASN’T A FAN OF WAYNE CAMPBELL ON SNL.
Speaking of Wayne’s World: When Mike Myers was just starting out, he approached a few of the show’s writers, including Conan O’Brien, to ask what they thought about Wayne, the character he was developing. The group of writers informed him that he could do better, but Myers wrote the sketch anyway. O’Brien recalled thinking, “This poor kid is going to have to learn the hard way.” The sketch made it to air, but in the unpopular final slot. Obviously, it became a hit.
MINDY KALING RELUCTANTLY TURNED DOWN THE CHANCE TO WRITE FOR SNL.
Saying “no” to SNL wasn’t really Kaling’s idea. But timing wasn’t on her side. In a2007 interview with The A.V. Club, she revealed that she had auditioned for SNL just a few months earlier (a year after The Office’s American debut). “They didn't offer me a part, but the audition went pretty well, and that night, they were like, ‘Do you want to come write for the show?’ [The Office creator] Greg [Daniels] used to write for SNL, and he had known that being on SNL was my great dream. He said, ‘Listen. If you get cast on the show, I'll let you break your contract and go do it, but if they ask you to write, I can't, because you have a job writing here, plus you're on the show. So I'm not going to let you leave the show so you can go be in New York.’ At that time, I missed New York so badly. I hated L.A. for a long time, and I wanted to leave it. I had these fantasies of going to SNL and falling in love with some writer on SNL, of getting married and living in New York. That was really heartbreaking to have to turn down, but then I got to guest-write in the spring.’”
JEFF ROSS WAS CONSIDERED AS A REPLACEMENT FOR COLIN QUINN ON SNL “WEEKEND UPDATE.”
Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon weren’t the only folks vying for Colin Quinn’s spot at the "Weekend Update" desk in 2000; comedian Jeff Ross was also in contention. But Fey had clout: three years' experience as a writer for the show and one season as head writer.