Tina Fey Has Been ‘Haunted Every Day’ for Years by Steve Martin’s Advice
Tina Fey has never forgotten the advice Steve Martin gave her years ago. So much so that she confessed to being “haunted” by Martin’s words ever since. Ahead, what Martin once “matter-of-factly” told Fey when they crossed paths on Saturday Night Live. Plus, why she thinks his advice still rings true.
Steve Martin’s advice for Tina Fey
In the debut episode of Amy Poehler’s “Good Hang” podcast, Fey shared the advice Martin gave her years ago during her time on Saturday Night Live. (She worked on SNL from 1997 to 2006.)
“Something I think about a lot, and I fall short of it constantly, but a million years ago, I was a writer still at SNL,” she began. “And I remember Steve Martin came to do something on the show. He wasn’t hosting. But he came to the show, and he had just been on Letterman the night before.”
“I said, ‘Oh my gosh, you were so funny on Letterman last night,’” Fey continued. “And he just very matter-of-factly said, ‘Oh, well, you have to kill every time.’ And that has haunted me every day since.”
During Fey’s time at SNL, she became the first woman to serve as head writer. Later, she became popular for hosting the “Weekend Update” skit alongside Jimmy Fallon and Poehler.
As for Martin, he’s never been an SNL cast member. However, the Only Murders in the Building star has hosted the show a whopping 16 times, per NBC. (That’s one less than Alec Baldwin.)
Fey thinks Martin’s advice is spot-on for anyone in ‘comedy’
While Poehler laughed at Martin’s advice, the star of Netflix’s upcoming Four Seasons comedy praised his words, calling them spot-on. “He’s right!” Fey told Poehler.
“If you’re a beautiful actress from I don’t know, like Melrose Place, whatever,” she explained, “you can go on and be like, ‘I went to the store once.’” Comedians, she continued, can’t do the same. “If you’re a comedy person?” Fey said. “You have to kill every time? Oh, god.”
While Fey admitted to “fall[ing] short” of Martin’s advice, she has many award-winning performances to her name and a hugely successful comedy career. Since leaving SNL in 2006, she’s starred in, and in some cases written and created, popular movies and TV shows. Examples include Mean Girls, 30 Rock, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Fey has also received many industry accolades during her career, including Golden Globes and Emmy Awards. She and Poehler have also co-hosted the Golden Globes four times.
Fey could someday end up back at ‘Saturday Night Live’
Fey back at SNL? Lorne Michaels, the live comedy sketch show’s longtime showrunner, said her return is a possibility at the 2024 Emmy Awards. Just not as a cast member and head writer like before.
“Of course I’ve thought about it,” Michaels, 79, told Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet about who might eventually replace him. “We’re doing the 50th anniversary show in February ’25. So, I will definitely be there for that and definitely be there until then. And then we’ll figure out what we’re going to do.”
“It could easily be Tina Fey,” he went on. “But there are a lot of people who are there now who are also, you know. Tina’s brilliant and great at everything. She’s a very important person in my life.”
