Courtesy of Variety. Photo credit: Mary Ellen Matthews.
Every year, Variety brings together the most powerful & seasoned actors in Hollywood for their annual Actors on Actors series, where two actors get together in an intimate setting to talk about their craft and work, provide insight into each of their creative processes and what it takes to hone the craft of acting. Variety consistently pulls out all the stops to make this such an entertaining series and with the new episodes released so far this year, this lineup is certainly no exception.
In this unique conversation, the two Saturday Night Live & Bridesmaids stars Kristen Wiig & Jon Hamm pulled back the curtain on each of their distinct upbringings and connections to comedy for a really fascinating discussion all comedy fans will appreciate. They even got to discussing & appreciating each others current projects including Kristen Wiig's Apple TV+ series Palm Royale & Jon Hamm's recent guest appearances on The Morning Show & Fargo. After watching this conversation in full, here are five cool comedy things we learned about each of their times working together on SNL & Bridesmaids that some of us may not have known firsthand if it wasn't for this conversation.
Watch their full Actors on Actors episode at the top of this page!
1) “Mad Men,” “The Office” & the late 2000’s cast of SNL all jelled together in the same era.
Before Jon Hamm first hosted SNL, the cast & crew at SNL in 2008 all wore Mad Men drag to the writer's room one day. John Mulaney was also a writer on the show at that time & he posted a throwback picture of that crew in Lorne Michael's office that's crazy to look back on now (it was a legendary crew back then).
Wiig then pointed out how special of a group that was with the TV camps of Mad Men, The Office, and that SNL crew cause "they all jelled together" & "ran with each other." Hamm described it as a "moment in time of distilled fun & funny."
2) All of Jon Hamm’s scenes in "Bridesmaids" were shot on the last day of filming.
Hamm took this conversation to reflect on his minimal but comically memorable contributions to one of the biggest comedy movies of the 2010s: Bridesmaids. Hamm revealed that all his scenes were shot on the last of filming the movie, which adds a whole other perspective when revisiting that movie again knowing all the driving scenes were the last shots captured. His self presumed "last day energy" from the crew couldn't have been farther from the truth according to Wiig.
When Hamm complemented Wiig for her outstanding writing on her Academy-Award nominated script, it couldn't have been more revealing of how modest & humble Wiig is responding back, "well you're in it, and you made it great."
3) The in-between sketches at SNL is “such a beautiful dance."
Looking back at their time on SNL together when Hamm hosted, they discussed their fast quick changes next to each other when changing wardrobe in between sketches. The real SNL fans know how intense the show can get behind the scenes when changing sets & costumes during commercial break. Hamm called it "chaos" & appearing "seamless" while Wiig called it "such a beautiful dance."
4) Going back to host SNL after being a cast member for so long is a “weird gear shift.”
When reflecting on her fifth time hosting Saturday Night Live earlier this year, Wiig was so appreciative of her dear friend & collaborator Hamm being present there along with her other high profile friends making guest appearances during that episode.
Wiig talked about how weird it is to go back & host the show after being a cast member for so long cause you see the other side of the curtain as a host over a cast member. According to previous cast members like Bill [Hader] & Tina [Fey], "it's a real mind fuck" and a "weird gear shift" cause you've been there so long to do one thing as a cast member and then you gotta be in the mindset of a host.
5) The Saturday Night Live crew keeps the iconic sketch comedy series so nostalgic.
Continuing their discussion on their latest SNL appearance, Wiig & Hamm both made note about how that appearance felt "simultaneously like a throwback," how they're "so in it," and how it felt "just like yesterday [calling back to the early 2010s]." Then Wiig mentioned out how the crew doesn't really change.
She says, "If the crew changed & I went back and the cast is obviously different, I think I would've felt like it was another world." Just comes to show how amazing the crew from cue cards to wardrobe to set design and how they make this show so special to keep it feeling like how it once started.
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