Cheri Oteri on SNL's Cutthroat Writing Process & The Sketch She Snuck Onto Update | SNL 50 - video Dailymotion

Hollywood Journal

Cheri Oteri reflects on her time at 'Saturday Night Live' during the SNL 50 red carpet, calling herself lucky to have been part of the show's legendary legacy. She shares stories about her Barbara Walters and Snoop Dogg sketch, her admiration for Jim Carrey finally getting to host after being rejected as a cast member and the tough reality of SNL cast members having to write their own sketches. Plus, she reveals a hilarious character she couldn't get into a full sketch—but snuck onto Weekend Update!

Transcript

00:0050 years of SNL. What do you think of when you think about the legacy of this show?

00:08That just how lucky I was to be a part of it.

00:12When you think about your time and your tenure on the show, is there a particular sketch that

00:18comes to mind that maybe you thought wouldn't land and it did, or maybe the opposite that you

00:23thought it was, it is going to land? A sketch I did, Barbara Walters interviewing Snoop Dogg,

00:31and this is when Snoop Dogg first came out, you know, like was on the scene, so we didn't know

00:36how sweet he could be or anything. He was like a hardcore rapper, so I had to have Barbara interviewing

00:42him, and it ended up going better than I could have imagined. I love that. Was there a standout

00:51host for you that you're like, wow, I'd like really, this person really stuck out to me as

00:57like being a really memorable host? I'd have to say Jim Carrey. I mean, just because I was so happy

01:04for him because it meant so much to him to do the show because he had auditioned back in the day,

01:11and when you, you know, and he always wanted to be on it, and I'm like, it's way healthier to be

01:17hosting it, and I was just so happy that he did such a great job. You say it's way healthier to

01:24be hosting it than being a part of it. Why do you say that? It's a tough gig, you know? It's a really

01:31tough gig, but he's somewhat familiar with that because of In Living Color, but yeah, I always

01:38thought of people who didn't get on, who did audition, and then later ended up hosting, and it's like,

01:45wow, where one door closes, you know, another one opens, and yeah, what's one part of being on SNL

01:56that people don't truly understand or maybe realize unless you're actually doing it and going

02:01through the motions? How many of the actors have to write? I mean, we have writers, but they don't

02:06have to write for you. They write what they want, and then they cast, you know, but the writers,

02:12I mean, the actors are, a lot of actors are writing to get on the show, and they're almost

02:19competing with other writers, you know, and that's hard. You know, you have this sea of

02:28great writers, and you know, they don't have to write, you know, for you, but you know,

02:37but everybody hooks up with somebody, and I would have, was lucky to write a lot with Matt Piedmont,

02:44and, and that was, I was, like, Gilda had Alan Zweibel, and there's people that you just,

02:57and we, and Matt and I wrote really well together, and I knew I was lucky to have somebody that would

03:02write with me, who was, who was so talented. And was there a sketch or maybe a character that

03:08you workshopped that you're like, dang it, I wish that that kind of made it on air, and it maybe

03:12didn't? Well, yes, but I got her on update. It was a Joy Lipton, and she owned the erotic attic

03:25in Manhattan, and so I couldn't get her on the show, but I got her on update.

03:31Okay.

Cheri Oteri on SNL's Cutthroat Writing Process & The Sketch She Snuck Onto Update | SNL 50

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