Since childhood, Kenan Thompson has practiced his craft as a comedic actor and sketch performer. As an adult, he’s been making audiences laugh at Saturday Night Live since 2003. During his tenure, he had been in drag lampooning Maya Angelou, Jennifer Hudson, and other Black women who were public figures. In 2013, he refused to portray a woman ever again on SNL. That line in the sand ended up launching many comedy careers.
At the time, out of the 16 SNL cast members, there were only two other persons of color: Black comedian and actor Jay Pharoah, and Iranian-born American actress, Nasim Pedrad. This meant that either Thompson or Pharoah would have to don a wig and a dress if the show was spoofing a Black woman celebrity. As the longest running cast member on SNL, Thompson felt comfortable to publicly state that he wouldn’t portray a woman ever again. Pharoah backed him up and even pitched potential Black women comedians and producers.
The audition that launched a new wave of comedians
The move forced the producers to conduct a search for at least one Black female cast member by January 2014. The search led to Sasheer Zamata, who joined the cast until 2017. Since then, she’s gone on to other opportunities as a stand-up comedian and actress. Some of her roles include movies such as 2021’s The Mitchells vs. the Machines and Marvel and Disney+’s 2024 series Agatha All Along.
Even though Zamata claimed the spot on SNL, many of her fellow auditioners were noticed for other comedy jobs. After Zamata’s casting had been announced, the runner-up, Amber Ruffin, was almost immediately staffed as a writer for Late Night with Seth Meyers. Ruffin still currently works as a writer on the show while also getting other opportunities. She wrote her own sitcom, hosted her own comedy talk show, and participates as a talking head on Have I Got News For You.
There was another future SNL all-star who wasn’t immediately cast, but hired on as a writer. However, she was promoted to a full cast member before the end of 2014. That person? Leslie Jones, who has since launched into film and television superstardom.
Many other household names were first noticed at the search
Even though they didn’t get the job, many other funny Black women broke out at that audition. Tiffany Haddish would get recurring roles in TV shows like The Carmichael Show and star in the ultra-popular film, Girls Trip. Nicole Byer would have several live-action and voice-over roles while also hosting reality shows like Nailed It. In fact, Byer co-hosts a podcast with Zamata called Best Friends.
It should be noted that these women likely would have found success without this SNL audition. Kenan Thompson would not and is not taking credit for their success. However, it is funny how refusing to wear a dress was one small push that created momentum in several different directions for so many talented people.
