The REAL Reasons These Cast Members Quit SNL

#10: Punkie Johnson (2020-24)

Everyone approaches their art differently. Punkie Johnson felt like her approach was a little too different from the rest of her cast. After Ben Silva, a favorite writer of hers, quit the show, Johnson felt like an outcast. She struggled to square her background in comedy with the others styles. She cut her teeth at the famed Comedy Store. However, many of her castmates had a more academic background in comedy, coming up doing more sketch comedy than standup. Johnson says this difference is what ultimately led her to walk away from SNL after four seasons.

#9: Tina Fey (1997-2006)

Having served on the writing staff and at the Weekend Update anchor desk for several years, Tina Fey didnt stray far from 30 Rockefeller Plaza. No, we actually mean that. She went from SNL right into writing and starring on 30 Rock. Fey was a rockstar on SNL, and an essential ingredient in making one of its strongest eras. She used that experience and poured it into her next project. She left to focus as much of her creative energy on her sitcom as possible. It paid off. 30 Rock was a critical darling and an Emmy winner.

#8: David Spade (1990-96)

With a show famous for its cast overhauls, it must be a weird feeling to be one of the few held over into the next season like a stopgap. But thats the situation David Spade found himself in at the start of the shows 21st season. He was retained mostly to establish continuity between the previous cast and the new one featuring soon-to-be luminaries Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri. Spade announced his belated departure in 1996. He told TV Guide that constant criticism of the show had gotten to him. He found it increasingly hard to want to do the work, especially when he had done all he wanted to do there. He earned his own sitcom, Just Shoot Me!, the following year.

#7: Bill Hader (2005-13)

It may be live from New York, but when youve got career obligations on both coasts, SNL can become more than a performer can handle. Bill Haders tenure was marked by huge successes and iconic characters, but he also experienced periodic panic attacks and a lack of sleep. He finally made the decision to leave after his eighth season. Haders real reason was also incredibly wholesome. He and his then-wife, filmmaker Maggie Carey, had just relocated to Los Angeles for work. SNL would have taken him away from her and their children for too long.

#6: Will Ferrell (1995-2002)

Given how prolific his movie career would become, people assume the star of Anchorman and Step Brothers left Saturday Night Live to answer Hollywoods call. Outside of some supporting roles and the A Night at the Roxbury movie, Will Ferrell didnt fully commit to film acting until he was ready to leave his regular position in the ensemble. He even humbly admits that Hollywood wasnt exactly banging his door down. There was no pile of scripts or offers waiting for him when he made his exit. He simply thought that it was time to leave. If there was a time to make the leap from TV to film, the time was now. It was a gamble that paid off almost immediately.

#5: Leslie Jones (2014-19)

After a few seasons, some cast members may feel like the show isnt allowing them to showcase all their talents. Known for her boisterous personality and distinctive voice, Leslie Jones parted ways with the series in 2019. Jones would say of her six-season run on SNL that she didnt feel free there. Whatever she means by that, we can only imagine. She compared the gig to having two jobs at once. The pace and energy it required were also factors. After all, Jones was 47 and had nearly 30 years in the business when she was cast. As she told Sherri Shepherd, SNL is a young persons job.

#4: Bobby Moynihan (2008-17)

Between 2008 and 2017, a lot changed in America. Cast member Bobby Moynihan spent much of that period watching it unfold on the SNL stage. Viral impressions of Sarah Palin, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton gave way to skewerings of Donald Trump and Joe Biden. After the 2016 election, Moynihan noticed that the increasing political content required a show that could keep up with the onslaught of headlines straight out of the White House. It made the week leading up to a show more frantic than it was in his early years there. But he also said that his last year, punishing as it was, was one of his favorites.

#3: Kate McKinnon (2012-22)

The writing was on the wall for this breakout cast member for a while. Kate McKinnon was one of the shows most dependable and consistently viral performers for her ten-season tenure. She left the show in 2022, citing pure exhaustion at doing it for a whole decade. Like co-star Aidy Bryant, McKinnon actually planned to leave sooner. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the subsequent industry slowdown put McKinnon and many of her fellow long-running co-stars on an extended stay with the show. McKinnon, Bryant, Pete Davidson, and Kyle Mooney all left the show after its second full, in-studio season since the pandemic began.

#2: Chevy Chase (1975-76)

His presence looms large over the shows history, but this first season SNL cast member only lasted halfway through its second season. While Chevy Chases movie career took off after he left, he cites another reason for his departure. It wasnt backstage tensions that led to his exit. According to Chase, at least, he left the show for love. His girlfriend was living in Los Angeles and gave him an ultimatum. She wasnt living in New York, and shed leave him if he didnt join her. Chase left the show, he went after her, they got married, then divorced relatively quickly. As he says, it was the wrong choice.

#1: Melissa Villaseñor (2016-22)

The pace of the SNL workweek should be studied. Some repertory players find that it catches up with them sooner or later. Stand-up comedian and impressionist lent her talents to the show for six seasons before announcing her exit in 2022. Her reasons were understandable and kind of heartbreaking. She was experiencing intense panic attacks and mental health crises that, at a certain point, just made such a high-pressure spot untenable. Villaseñor was quick to point out that its not the shows fault. She simply couldnt keep up with the show and take care of herself at the same time.

Whos your favorite SNL cast member? Tell us in the comments.