Donald Glover Is Glad ‘SNL’ Turned Him Down

[hewontgo]

Donald Glover Is Glad ‘SNL’ Turned Him Down: It ‘Would Have Killed Me’ https://t.co/udPF1K6aCv pic.twitter.com/acxT3Vm6I1
- IndieWire (@IndieWire) April 4, 2023

Donald Glover is thankful to not have been cast on “Saturday Night Live.”
He was turned down from the live sketch series after auditioning in both 2007 and 2009.

“I dodged so many bullets

Comments

[filmstudent23]

I’m not trying to make fun of him cuz he has a valid point and his career wouldn’t be what it is if he was on SNL but they way he put it made me lol. It’s like me saying “thank God I didn’t win a million dollars. That would’ve made me not find a job”

He doesn’t know what SNL could’ve turn his career into.

[hiimtish]

I feel like he’s saying his career is exactly where he wants it to be and if he’s gotten SNL it would be a totally different beast

[genbu_no_miko24]

Would it though? Cause SNL track record with black cast members doesn’t seem strong. The black players always seemed underused unless one of them manages to strike gold with a skit. The most they get used is when a Black host is picked.

SNL has been on for 48 years and I think Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock are probably the MOST successful black men to come off that show.

So maybe he’s got a point about not getting the gig.

[zipster]

SNL cast members really haven't transcended past SNL for a while

[genbu_no_miko24]

I think the last 2 big ones was Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader in recent years?

[zipster]

kristen kinda fizzled i fear-- i'd love for her to make a big comeback

jason sudeikis w/ ted lasso!

[genbu_no_miko24]

I don't know if she fizzled cause she seems to like more lowkey or alternative stuff.

[bttrsondaughter]

that season 32 cast is kind of rock solid, like obviously there's no Eddie or Sandler or Chris Rock, but they're not only the people we measure SNL cast members by ("he's a Hader mixed with Forte" or "this is so Lonely Island lite") but most of them have had hits, most of them are Emmy winners/nominees.

i think the cast that immediately followed them like intentionally let that window of opportunity close on them, but even most of them had their own shows. the dumbest move they made was actually staying on the show for a decade+ imo. like Kate stayed so long her movies and show flopped before she even left the show.

[genbu_no_miko24]

Hmm I totally forgot about Kate! and yeah she was one of the big breakout stars! but overstaying her welcome faded her star appeal :|!!

[dr_bong]

Are you taking crazy pills? Jason sudakis who left the same night as Kristen is in one of/creator of the most awarded/popular sitcoms right now? John mulaney is producing one of Netflix’s top shows along w/voice acting in it he is one of the top in demand stand up comics across the globe and in the last 3 years he has won 2 emmys…
Andy Sandburg! All of the lonely island boys!! Tim Robinson! Will Forte!
Your nutz

[genbu_no_miko24]

I didn't remember most of them. John was a writer but never a cast member so his trajectory is different.

Andy is the most famous one of the lonely island boys, the other 2 are m.i.a

[lolzerz]

well pete davidson made himself a household name by fucking SNL hosts. does that count?

[bttrsondaughter]

I get what you mean but there’s a downside too. for every Julio Torres there’s a Larry David and J.B. Smoove who were both SNL writers (Larry in the 80s and J.B. in the early 00s) and only ever got one sketch a piece on air. for a Samberg/Wiig/Hader you get a Luke Null or Brooks Wheelan. and that’s not even factoring how white the show has been until just recently (like literally just a decade ago)

[excuseyoubitch]

yeah no way did he dodge a bullet by not being on Parks & Rec - its still very well received and most of the cast are really big now
that being said, community def did the job as well

[floatinglately]

he dodged a bullet by being on a show that was sometimes funny instead of never funny

ok i said that to be a hater but tbh, while community wasn’t perfect (and while i LOVED it at the time i find it unwatchably unfunny now despite remembering it fondly? it’s weird), i do feel like it gave a lot more “meat” to its non white cast that p&r did (i mean aziz obviously went on to do okay for himself but his character is very one note on the show) - troy, abed, and shirley all feel like core components of what matters about community in ways that aziz and especially retta don’t really on p&r

dan harmon sucks so it gives me no pleasure to say this but. idk it feels true!

[deja_vu822]

yeah i don't get the parks & rec thing because it's pretty comparable to community and he easily could've had the same career trajectory with it. but i guess maybe he's just generally saying, things worked out for me despite the rejections that i got and everything happened as it should have.