Bowen Yang, who's well-known for his work on Saturday Night Live and his role in Wicked and Wicked: For Good, stepped off of the SNL stage for the last time, mid-season, after being a writer and performer for the past eight seasons.
During his final skit, Yang starred opposite Ariana Grande, with the couple playing a married couple. Grande was waiting for Bowen to come from after his final shift before retiring from working at an airport.
While Yang's character lamented all the things he would miss about his workplace and the people there, Yang became emotional, clearly speaking about his time on Saturday Night Live and his love for his fellow cast members just as much as his character was talking about retirement.
You can watch the skit, "His Final Shift," here:
@nbcsnl his final shift 🫶
Yang was clearly emotional about his departure during his final skit and the cast's bow at the end of the night, as well as on his Instagram stories.
But now that some time has passed and emotions have settled, Yang has started to open up about the reasons behind his decision to step away from the show on his podcast, Las Culturistas, opposite Matt Rogers.
A crucial factor involved his acting, namely that he felt limited at times by the roles he received on the show.
“I feel like I was really bogged down the entire time I was there about the idea that there was no range in anything I did."
"I knew I was never gonna play the dad. I was never gonna play the generic thing in sketches."
"It’s a sketch show; each thing is like four minutes long. It is short and collapsed by necessity, so, therefore, it plays on archetypes."
But the more important point came from Yang himself, knowing it was time to go.
"This is honestly what's behind it: It's time."
"You would do seven seasons, and then you would scoot."
"But then Covid and the current media landscape, and the current entertainment ecosystem is so turbulent, that people have completely valid reasons for staying longer, or in a lot of cases, don't have the privilege of staying on as long as they would have liked."
"I have this very beautiful thing where I get to say that I stayed on exactly as long as I wanted to."
You can hear part of the conversation here:
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
Fans were touched by Yang's reasoning and supportive of him taking the next step.
Yang got to walk away from Saturday Night Live on the perfect night with a skit that gave him the perfect opportunity to say goodbye, with his wonderful friend Ariana Grande, with Cher as the musical guest, and at the time that he felt ready to go.
Even the most fabulous departures are emotional, but it's clear that the timing was right for Yang. And after he's had some rest and travel, he promises new, great projects for his fans to look forward to.
