Ego Nwodim on Falling in Love With Comedy, Being a ‘Workaholic’ and the Toughest Part of ‘Saturday Night Live’
variety.comEmily Longeretta Ever since she was little, Ego Nwodim has loved performing. In fact, that was why she was a ballerina for 10 years.
Eventually, she stumbled, begrudgingly, into an improv comedy class and fell in love with it. Never in her wildest dreams did she think she’d be making millions laugh on a stage as big as “Saturday Night Live.” Nwodim, who joined the show in 2018, is set to host Variety’s Power of Women event in New York on April 4. When did your love for comedy begin? It started long before I could name what it was.
I grew up watching “Martin” and “In Living Color,” but I grew up in a Nigerian household, so it was like, “These are TV shows you’re watching.” I didn’t know they were called comedy because they weren’t introduced to me that way.
I think truly being able to name that it was comedy, I feel like such a late bloomer in that regard. I didn’t really even know that was a career option until 15 years ago. If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing? I was pre-med, because I’m Nigerian American.
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