Why ‘Ted Lasso’ Star Jason Sudeikis Once Negatively Compared ‘SNL’ To McDonald’s
Jason Sudeikis is getting a ton of recognition for his hit Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso, but his career spans much further. Prior to getting his own show, he spent several years a writer and performer on the long-running sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live.
While working on SNL Sudeikis was able to make a name for himself and open up future opportunities in the entertainment world, although he wasn’t always enthusiastic about joining the cast.
‘Ted Lasso’ star Jason Sudeikis didn’t want to work for ‘SNL’ earlier in his career
Before he made it big as a comedian, Sudeikis spent a lot of time working with smaller improv comedy houses throughout the United States and beyond. His talent began to catch the attention of people with connections to SNL, and they began to inquire about his interest in working with the show.
However, Sudeikis was determined not to join the SNL cast.
“I auditioned for the show in August of 2003,” he told theoffcamerashow in 2020. “At that point, I was living in Las Vegas working on Second City. And Jeff Richmond, who is one of my heroes and a mentor of mine … came and saw our show and did basically a week’s worth of rehearsal. Like, three rehearsals with us, and added 20% more laughs. He’s one of those just really gifted guys. And he asked me, ‘Would you ever audition for SNL? And at that point, I was [an] adamant no.”
He negatively compared ‘SNL’ to McDonald’s
Later in the interview, Sudeikis explained that his contempt for SNL stemmed from his lack of desire to be associated with such a large corporate entity. In his mind, SNL was a machine that mass-produced mediocre jokes and made comedians less funny.
“When you come from the Chicago experience it’s about the process,” he said. “SNL is a product base, and show business in Hollywood … I f****** hated SNL. You have to hate SNL at some point during your comedy journey because it’s McDonald’s.”
Jason Sudeikis didn’t want to face rejection from ‘SNL’
Even though Sudeikis often projected a lack of interest in SNL, deep down he knew he wanted to work for the show. He only pretended to hate SNL so he wouldn’t have to deal with potentially getting rejected.
“My whole point about it was ultimately, ‘That show doesn’t want me, so f*** that show. That girl’s a b**** because she has no — wait. She has a crush on me? Oh, she’s not that bad. … I mean, it’s full on envy, it was jealousy, it was arrogance, it was ignorance,” he admitted.
Going further, Sudeikis revealed that he was deeply insecure about his talent at the time, which is why he was so against SNL.
“It wasn’t that I wasn’t good enough, it was just like — no, it was that I wasn’t good enough. And knowing that about myself, and I didn’t need that show to be something that was impossible for me to ever get to do,” he said.
