At Thursday night’s American Songbook Gala honoring Lorne Michaels, the Cut had the chance to talk to Maya Rudolph about some of her favorite Saturday Night Live memories. Turns out the seven-season veteran has been a fan since her pre-VCR childhood, when she used to sneak into her parents’ room to watch it live.
“I got introduced to New York through Saturday Night Live, and this incredible nightlife that I knew existed but I never experienced. I just wanted to go there,” she mused. “You know, because you could tell when they were saying good night to each other, they were going to go to the party, and hang out.”
What sticks out to her most about the old days versus her time on the show? “I loved that rawness. To me, that’s everything. And it touches me so when I watch those old shows. There’s nothing like it. But that’s also the era,” she said. “Tina and I were watching a clip of The Jerk tonight, where Bernadette Peters and Steve [Martin] were singing ’You Belong to Me,’ and we were thinking, like, She probably did her own makeup! And her own hair. I love that. I want to get back to that.”
