Bowen Yang said Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels privately told him he still has work to do on the show, a conversation Yang said helped inform his decision to return for Season 51 amid a wave of recent cast departures.
"I’ve always gone by the instinct of, do I have more to do? And I feel like I do," Yang, 34, told People on Friday at the One House Toast to the Emmys celebration. "Even Lorne and I talked about it and Lorne was like, ‘You have more to do,’ and that means a lot because I even confessed to him. I was like, ‘I feel the audience is maybe getting sick of me.’ And he was like, ‘That’s not true. There’s more for you to do. I need you.'" Yang said he felt he had to "honor" Michaels' encouragement when he renewed his contract for a sixth season.
Yang said he no longer enters a new season with a strict game plan, preferring to work week to week on the live sketch series. "I let that go and I think it served me well," he said. "If there’s any place to do that, it’s ‘SNL,’ where it’s week to week. Sometimes you’re up for the challenge. Sometimes you show up even if you aren’t, and that’s kind of what makes interesting things happen."
The announcement comes as Michaels, 80, has signaled a desire to "shake things up" at the long-running NBC show amid what he described as a "pressure to reinvent." Several cast members have announced they will not return for Season 51 in recent weeks, including Ego Nwodim, who left after seven seasons, as well as Heidi Gardner, Michael Longfellow, Emil Wakim and Devon Walker.
Yang described his time on SNL as life-changing and said he loves the people he works with. He acknowledged he was "absolutely" emotional about saying goodbye to longtime co-stars but said he viewed departures as part of the show's function as a training ground and launching pad for broader careers. "What I’ve always thought, what I think everybody knows, is that ‘SNL’ is this boot camp and that implies that there is a next phase you train for something else," he said, citing Kenan Thompson as an example of a performer who has expanded his possibilities while remaining on the series.
Producers have already announced a group of new cast members who will join the returning ensemble for Season 51: Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Ben Marshall, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska. Yang said he was "so excited to see what" the departing cast members accomplish next and expressed enthusiasm for the incoming performers.
Yang also noted his broader career work, including stage roles, and framed his ongoing tenure at SNL as one part of a larger career trajectory. He said Michaels "has changed my life, and I owe a lot of my life to that show," and added that the producer's private encouragement carried significant weight in his decision to stay.
Season 51 will mark another period of transition for the vintage sketch series as it integrates new talent and moves forward following the recent round of exits and Michaels' pledge to refresh the show.