Saturday Night Live is the Mount Everest of sketch comedy careers. Going on 51 years with its current 2026 television scheduled season, the series has become an institution. But, even after making it on the show, nerves never fully settle, just ask SNL vet Chris Parnell. In a new interview, he explains what it feels like not knowing if you’ll be invited back to the iconic show.
Chris Parnell was a regular cast member for eight years, spanning 1998 to 2006, and during that time, there was nothing he couldn’t do. He was the Swiss Army Knife of impressionists, doing every character from Tom Brokaw to a plethora of political and news personalities. And even though he was often a "got to" on screen presence during his time on the show, he was eventually fired. Twice. Which, if you ask him, was the most humbling experience during his tenure. As he explained to LateNighter in a recent interview, saying:
I mean, it would have to be when I was fired [the first time]. This thing happened every summer, at least during my time on the show, where Lorne [Michaels]’s office would always ask for an extension, in terms of letting you know if you were going to [return] the following season. They’re supposed to let you know by July 1st and that never happened, so you would hear through your agent that they need more time. I was in communication with Rachel Dratch at the time and we were all in the same boat, and we kind of thought, ‘Okay, we’re all going to come back.’ Then it turned out that I didn’t.
As shocking as the news that he was being let go was, the first time, what was more shocking was the way Parnell found out. He continued:
Article continues belowI got a call from my manager. I might have been heading to Century City to see a movie, and I pulled off on one of the side streets off of Beverly and just sat there in the car and tried to come to terms with it. I don’t think I cried, but I was in shock. It was such a blow and so unexpected. Some time later, at the wedding for writers Jerry Collins and Lori Nasso, I think it was Tim Meadows who said that he had heard that the door wasn’t completely shut in terms of me being gone. Then I proceeded to hear from my manager after he spoke with Lorne, ‘It sounds like there’s still a possibility.’
What followed was a sort of job purgatory for the sketch comedy icon, a period that, to his delight, ended on a high note with his un-firing. Reflecting on this challenging time, he added:
I lived in this limbo with this hope that I would be called back, but at a certain point I was just tired of it. I had my stuff in storage in New York and I’d just moved it all back to L.A. Then, a month or two later, I found out they were hiring me back, much to my delight, obviously. I went and lived in a hotel for the rest of that season. It was quite a roller coaster.
After returning to the show, Parnell remained a cast member for five more years, until leaving the show for good in 2006. I can't even imagine the emotional toll it takes to be fired, not once but twice, from your dream job. But luckily for him, and all fans of comedy, Saturday Night Live was not the end-all be-all for the long-time Rick and Morty voice star. As he has starred in some of the greatest dark comedy movies, some of the silliest comedies of all time and continues to work, building an impressive body of work.
Chris Parnell’s latest project, The Dink, hits streaming on July 24, 2026. All you need to enjoy is an Apple TV subscription.
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