Melissa Villaseñor was "struggling" at SNL

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https://www.thedailybeast.com/meliss...uggling-on-snl

The comedian reveals why she decided to leave “Saturday Night Live” after six seasons—and how her new book serves as a cathartic “release” from that show’s pressure.

Matt Wilstein
Senior Writer
Updated Oct. 25, 2022 1:13PM ET / Published Oct. 25, 2022 4:47AM ET

Melissa Villaseñor was among the eight cast members to leave Saturday Night Live after its most recent season. And in this episode of The Last Laugh podcast, she opens up for the first time about everything that led to her difficult decision to step away from the show that had been her home for six years.

The comedian and author of the new book Whoops… I’m Awesome also talks about how she got her start doing celebrity impressions on America’s Got Talent, looks back at the most surreal highlights from her time on SNL, and shares some thoughts about what she wants to do with her life now that she has left that high-pressure job behind.

When I spot Villaseñor’s bright pink hair and ask if it’s a sign that she’s living her best life in Los Angeles after leaving SNL this past summer, she replies, “I really am.”

“I almost feel reborn or something, because I have all this free time,” she continues. “So I’m enrolling in classes, almost like a little kid. I’m taking guitar lessons and Spanish lessons. I signed up for a pottery class!” She explains that she would previously try to expand her mind like this between seasons of SNL, but just found it to be “impossible.”

Of course, all of those new hobbies have been on top of putting the finishing touches on her new book of stories, affirmations, and drawings—many of which the reader is encouraged to color in—that hits shelves today. She decided to title it Whoops… I’m Awesome because it “just sounds fun,” adding, “I think it’s a perfect title for this book because it’s self-helpy, but also, I don’t take it too seriously.”

And yet those silly drawings, which she has been sharing for years on a dedicated Instagram account for her biggest fans, have served as a more cathartic creative outlet than almost anything she was able to get on SNL.

“I think you could say it was the release of what was going on inside the show for me,” Villaseñor says, adding that that release was better “channeled” through art than the more self-destructive ways cast members have coped with the show’s stressful environment in the past.

“I think comedy is where I feel very silly, confident, and really can’t expose too much of my sensitive side,” she adds. “And drawing became that place where I could share anything that I’m feeling sensitive about or insecure about, and I released my feelings through there. It’s this quiet side, and I really love it.”