Comedian Aidy Bryant Explains Why She Was ‘Scared’ to Leave ‘Saturday Night Live’: I Was ‘Worried’ I’d be ‘Fully Crying’

usmagazine.com:

A bittersweet ending. After Aidy Bryant decided it was time to move on from her post at Saturday Night Live, she faced the biggest hurdle of all — informing her boss, Lorne Michaels.“Maybe in March or April, I went to his office and was like, ‘I gotta talk to you,'” the 35-year-old told Variety on Tuesday, June 21. “I was scared because I feel close to him and so grateful to him.

I didn’t want it to come off like I was leaving angrily. I am leaving with so much love. He was like, ‘I understand, and it makes sense for you.'”The Horace and Pete actress joined the cast in 2012 for season 38 and decided season 47 would be her last.

Although her final stint on the show “wasn’t the normal year that I hoped for” due to COVID, she still didn’t regret her decision, saying, “10 [years] felt like a nice, solid round number.”The Arizona native continued: “When COVID hit, it was so jarring that we were all like, ‘I’m definitely going to come back next year.’ And then I had to shoot [Hulu’s] Shrill for half of last season, and so I missed a lot.”The comedian announced her exit from the long-running sketch show in May along with fellow cast members Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon and Kyle Mooney.

Bryant garnered three Emmy nominations for her work on the NBC hit series, ultimately landing her roles in popular shows like HBO’s Girls and Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.Her final appearance on the comedy series came that same month in a Weekend Update segment on the May 21 episode of the season 47 finale.