Is Being Fired by ‘SNL’ the Key to Awards Success?
It seems as though Hollywood stars will do almost anything to win major acting awards that in no way resemble golden popcorn buckets.
In addition to going on media blitzes, attending gala events and straight-up suck-uping to voting bodies, one potentially unsung method of achieving awards recognition just might be getting shitcanned by Lorne Michaels.
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Among the most recent crop of Emmy nominees is the great Jenny Slate, who was recognized for her work in Dying for Sex in the “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie” category. Slate was famously let go after just one season on SNL (but not for dropping the F-bomb that one time as some folks mistakenly believe).
Obviously Slate is nominated because of her exceptional acting, but we can’t help but notice that she isn’t the first person who’s gotten recognition from the Television Academy after being fired by SNL. Is it possible that being sent packing from Studio 8H is some kind of Emmy good luck charm?
For example, Sarah Silverman has been nominated for 12 Emmys and won two, Norm Macdonald received three posthumous nominations, Damon Wayans has been nominated four times, Adam Sandler has gotten multiple noms (including two this year) and Chris Rock has been nominated for a whopping 21 Emmys, winning four — although we wouldn’t blame him if he decided to never go to another award show ever again.
Oddly, a surprisingly small number of performers have won acting Emmys for SNL, just four in total: Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, Dana Carvey and Kate McKinnon.
Of course, several ex-SNL stars who weren’t unceremoniously canned also have been nominated for Emmys, including Amy Poehler, Jane Curtin and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who at this point has more Emmy Awards than she does fingers.
The point is, being fired from SNL is clearly not any kind of impediment to acting success. And it may be even more of an advantage in the movie world. As a fan on Reddit recently pointed out, the only former Saturday Night Live cast member to actually win an Academy Award was Robert Downey Jr., who took home the Best Supporting Actor trophy in 2024 for his work playing that one guy who hated Oppenheimer’s guts.
Downey Jr. was booted from SNL, along with the majority of the cast, after the disastrous 11th season – the mass-firing included Joan Cusack, who, incidentally, subsequently received two Academy Award nominations for Working Girl and In & Out.
Unlike RDJ, a number of former SNLers who left the show of their own volition have struggled at the Oscars, scoring nominations but never winning, such as Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy.
Although, to be fair, we can probably blame Murphy’s loss on the sheer awfulness of Norbit.
