SNL alum Sasheer Zamata has officially joined the LGBTQ+ community as "one of those late-in-life lesbians" after the actor had been keeping her private life separate from her career.
Zamata, who stars in the Disney+ Marvel series
Agatha All Along, a spin-off from the 2021 series WandaVision, discussed her identity awakening in an interview with Them.
The 38-year-old was never keen on making a huge fanfare by coming out, but she explained:
“I’m out in my life and I do keep my personal life kind of private, but I also don’t necessarily want my identity to be private."
“I guess I’m one of those late-in-life lesbians. I just feel very comfortable and confident in my life.”
The stand-up comedian has performed regularly with New York's Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre since 2009. She joined the cast of SNL in 2014 during its 39th season and became the first Black female cast member since biracial actor Maya Rudolph left the show in 2007.
Zamata was promoted to repertory player in season 41. In addition to impersonating celebrities like Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Lupita Nyong'o, some of her popular
SNL roles included teenage YouTube star Janelle, who is clueless about the sexual nature of her persona and how she comes off to her viewers; and Black Jeopardy! star Keeley.
Since departing SNL in 2017 after the season 42 finale, Zamata noticed an interesting trend with her casting on several projects.
“I kept getting cast as queer women,” she said before listing her queer credits.
She continued:
“I played a lesbian on 'Home Economics.' I played a lesbian on 'Woke.' I played a lesbian on 'Tuca & Bertie.'"
"A lesbian on ' Last O.G.' I kept getting these roles. And this is before I myself was figuring out my identity."
"I was like, ’Whoa, what are these casting directors seeing that I’m not seeing?’”
When Them writer Amos Mac cheekily suggested Hollywood made her gay, Zamata replied, laughing:
“That’s what conservatives joke about all the time."
“They’re like, ‘Oh my God, they’re turning everyone gay.’ And it happened.”
In response to why she was sharing her identity experience now, she said:
“No one asks straight people about their journey of discovery, but I guess it felt like if I didn’t say anything, I’d be ignoring a part of me, and that doesn’t feel very good."
She added:
"But yeah, I’ve definitely had thoughts of, not necessarily keeping it a secret, but [that] there’s no need to say anything about it.”
Zamata referred to music artist Chappell Roan, who was forced to set
boundaries in a powerful social media post to protect her from crazed and entitled fans, and hoped to adopt the same privacy principle while still embracing her sexual identity.
“As far as what people deserve to know? Nothing. They don’t deserve anything,” Zamata explained.
“I feel very fortunate so far. I have fans who are good about respecting my privacy, and I hope that continues. And I hope artists like Chappell Roan who are very clear about boundaries keep going.”
She added:
“I don’t want to be the representative of anything. I just got here. But I do want to be a part of the community.”
In Agatha All Along, Zamata plays a powerful witch named Jennifer Kale who joins Agatha's coven, which includes actors Patti LuPone, Debra Jo Rupp, Ali Ahn, and Heartstopper’s Joe Locke.
While her character is not exactly written as LGBTQ+, Zamata found relatable themes to help bring her MCU character to life.
“It’s nice to be able to portray a character who has been an outcast for a lot of her life, and to be in a show that’s exploring so many cool female themes and queer themes, it feels very appropriate," she said.
The first two episodes of
Agatha All Along will premiere on Disney+ starting September 18 followed by seven episodes to be introduced weekly through November 6.
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