Ego Nwodim (‘Saturday Night Live’) on Lisa from Temecula: ‘I could not do it without laughing’ [Complete Interview Transcript]

During a recent Gold Derby video interview, senior editor Marcus James Dixon spoke in-depth with Ego Nwodim (“Saturday Night Live”) about Season 48 of her NBC sketch series, which is eligible at the 2023 Emmys. Watch the full video above and read the complete interview transcript below.

One of the show’s most viral sketches of the year was “Lisa from Temecula,” in which Nwodim played a quirky restaurant-goer who shakes the table when she cuts into her well done steak. “Surprises can be good sometimes,” the actress stated in our webchat. “I could not get through Lisa from Temecula at our table read. I could not do it without laughing, which is so not me, but I think the whole last page and a half, I was just barely getting words out.”

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Also in our exclusive video interview, Nwodim talked about why she loves “an indignant, disruptive character,” how her confidence has grown over the past five years, what it’s like when newbies join the cast of “SNL,” and why an Emmy nomination “would mean the world.”

SEE Watch more than 400 interviews with 2023 Emmy contenders

Marcus James Dixon: Welcome to Gold Derby. I am senior editor Marcus James Dixon and we are here with the one and only Ego Nwodim from Saturday Night Live. Ego, you just completed your fifth season on the show and it’s quite possibly your strongest and funniest year yet. When you look back at the season as a whole, how do you feel?

Ego Nwodim: First of all, thank you so much. The season went by so quickly in a sense. I know we lost a few episodes to the strike, but I feel like I got to have so much fun and fully I am like, “It’s illegal how much fun I got to have.” And it was so cool to I feel like finally have some space. I came into the cast in 2018. It’s been five years. It was a very large cast and then it went to get larger and there were a lot of people ahead of me in line, if you will, who had been around for some time and had paid their dues at the show and it was their time to shine and play. And so it felt like there was room to really breathe and explore and play and bop around and work with different writers in a way that I hadn’t been able to I think before. It feels so good to feel like I really got to showcase just some of the things that I really love to do and have the support of the writers and to have the support of producers and that. I felt like I was allowed to soar this season and so it’s been really cool to look back and reflect on it too.

MJD: I felt the same thing. And I’m curious, how has your confidence grown over the past five years? Do you get nervous each and every Saturday?

EN: Okay, so as far as my confidence goes, the show is such a unique beast. It’s its own thing. There’s nothing like it, no performance like it. I mean, in terms of host, a lot of people will say no because they’re like, “I don’t want to do a live performance and certainly not on live TV.” It just is out there and it lives forever, especially with YouTube. I feel the show has absolutely grown my confidence. I mean, part of that is being there long enough to understand how the machine operates and what works at the show, what doesn’t work, what the audience enjoys, what they don’t. I think there’s a period of time where you’re trying to figure out as a new cast member, I came in and I did not know anyone that worked there besides two people in passing. And so I really was getting acclimated to a new city, getting acclimated to the show, to new friends and colleagues. And that stuff takes time. And so now, being in my fifth year, I’m like, “Oh, I guess I’m a senior now.” Automatically seniors always have a little more confidence than the freshmen and so I feel like I got confident just having been there and knowing and feeling like, “Okay, I understand how this place works a little bit more.” The show will always surprise you, but at least I feel like I have some footing now and just a broader sense of exactly what works there. It feels so good and it feels so nice and refreshing to feel like, “Okay, the audience is familiar with me. I am familiar with them.” And to feel just in lockstep with the show, it feels really, really good.

MJD: We have to talk about Lisa from Temecula. She absolutely blew up on social media with all the table shaking and the steak cutting. I’m curious, what was your reaction when you saw all of the love pouring in for your quirky new character?

EN: Marcus, I was not anticipating that. That’s the best. Surprises can be good sometimes, and so that was a surprise that was I think really, really good where I got to have so much fun playing the character. I’ve never gone in into a sketch or a week or anything being like, “And this is going to go viral.” I mean. Maybe somebody does, but I feel like that’d be sick and twisted and also lead to a lot of heartbreak and disappointment, because you can’t predict what’s going to go viral. We see so much funny stuff at our table read. It has been so rewarding to feel like this thing that I really loved doing, I mean, I loved it. I could not get through Lisa from Temecula at our table read. I could not do it without laughing, which is so not me, but I think the whole last page and a half, I was just barely getting words out at table read. It’s so special to be like, “Oh, this thing I love so much people have enjoyed watching.” And I get people yelling, “Cook my meat,” at me on the street, which would normally make me go, “Excuse me.” But it’s Lisa. What do you mean cook your meat? But it’s so cool to see everyone enjoy this thing I enjoyed doing. And then to watch them interact, fans and such, interact and talk about how much with one another they liked it, I mean, my mind is blown and I feel really fortunate, really, really fortunate.

MJD: I think all of the fans hoped that this character would return, and she did in one of the last episodes of the season. It was the salad tossing sequel. How happy were you that this character is apparently going to keep coming back? I mean, we’re going to see her again, I’m assuming.

EN: I hope we get to see her again. That is cool because the sketch was not written with like, “Oh, this is going to be a character of mine.” I didn’t write it, but Alex English, it was born of his cousin ordered a steak well done at dinner, a family dinner, when he was home and he was like, “Okay, I’m making a sketch because she’s shaking the table and doesn’t know [inaudible 00:05:56] cut through her hard steak.” And so it was more of a premise based sketch, but then as it came to life and we put clothes on the character and gave her a voice and my performance, it became a character based sketch. And that was genuinely surprising I think for me and the writers of that sketch, that it was like, “Oh, this is now a character piece. How cool.” I love getting to do her again, that was amazing to know that people wanted to see it, and now I’m like, “Where else can we put her?” It’s so interesting in this day and age with a recurring character on SNL, because there’s YouTube. So people, if they want their dose of Lisa, there’s the very first sketch at the birthday dinner that they could watch over and over again. So when we did the sequel, if you will, that, “Toss my salad, Lisa”, the writers were like, “Look, we’re probably not going to top the first one. That’s unheard of generally speaking, and so let’s just try to have as much fun and have this be as Lisa as Lisa can be.” And I think we did that. And so now I’m like, “Where else can we put her and where else will we see her?” That is to be determined, but very exciting to think about.

MJD: Another sketch I wanted to highlight from this season was Exorcism, where you played Mrs. Shaw, the upstairs neighbor who got annoyed because Jenna Ortega’s exorcism was a little bit too loud.

EN: It was loud. That Demon was making noise. Can you believe the demon making noise when I’m trying to sleep in the middle of the night? What is it, 6:00 p.m. in the middle of the night or something? Yeah, that was Mrs. Shaw. Her delusion is my favorite. Her delusion, her assuredness, the confidence on that woman. She’s lived a life and she’s like, “I’ve seen it all, done it all. I’m going to get this demon out of here.” And honestly, you got to give it credit. A little bit of a lofty goal, a bit haughty of her and presumptuous, but she did get the demon out. So you got to give Mrs. Shaw some credit.

MJD: And do you love playing these types of characters that are just very assertive characters, very hilarious in your face that steal the scene?

EN: I just love an indignant, disruptive character who is, I keep saying, strong and wrong. I love that because there’s a level of you want to live in their world a little bit of, I can use a dose of what you have, which is telling you that you know everything, you can handle anything, and everyone else around you is wrong and out of their minds. Those are the kinds of characters I like playing, just disruptive, indignant and oblivious to reality. And so I do think Lisa and Mrs. Shaw both possess that same quality.

MJD: And another character you played this year is very timely. It was a weekend update character, Black Ariel. But she was an anti-hero. She was a bad girl.

EN: Yes.

MJD: She supported the war in Iraq. She was responsible for the BP oil spill. She thinks salmon are racist. What was your reaction when you read that sketch, the script, for the first time?

EN: Well, I pitched that character to John Higgins, Ben Marshall, and Martin Herlihy, and talked to them about, I was like, “This is obviously a big part of the zeitgeist right now. It’s a big part of this conversation. We’ve seen it everywhere. You can’t really escape it.” And my whole thing was like, “What if Ariel is not what people think she is anyway?” So there’s all this discussion about how some people are upset about the casting, which is insane to me. And I’m like, “You’re all up in arms about this made up character that can be played by anyone. And the reality is she’s so made up. What if we found out more about our backstory and it’s like, yeah, she is an anti-hero and she is not a role model and your kids shouldn’t be looking up to her”? And it was more just to say, you’ve made all these assumptions about this made up character and she could be played by any anyone. She could be anything. It’s a made up character. Loosen up and enjoy her. So it was fun. We worked on that together and it was fun to get to do it for the audience. The message might have gone over some people’s heads, but at least it was very cool to be in the Little Mermaid tale. I was like, “I would love to be a mermaid for a day, actually.” I don’t know who could make that happen for real for me. But, yeah, it was very fun. The jokes in that one were so fun to come up with, with the boys and it was fun to have the audience for it. We had this thought about the audience responding to supporting the war in Iraq, and it was like, “Yeah, and if they groan, I’m going to go, ‘Come on, please. You know did too.'” So there were moments of that that were like, “I’m going to just see how the audience reacts to this and then respond accordingly.” But she was another really fun, unexpected character to play.

MJD: And Lorne Michaels has called this season “a transition year” because we lost some pretty big stars like Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, and then Cecily Strong left at the beginning of the year. I’m curious, what is your reaction as a cast member when one of your friends says goodbye? I mean, obviously, not goodbye out of your life, but goodbye out of day-to-day work.

EN: It’s bittersweet, to be honest. You’re excited for them to go on, especially the three you mentioned, Aidy, Cecily, and Kate spent so much time at the show, and the show is so time-consuming and so demanding. On one hand, it’s sweet because you’re going to soar. I can’t wait to see what else you do beyond here. I can’t wait for the world to see what else you can do because, also, here’s a little secret, at table read, we get to see so much more of our cast members than the world gets to see. And you go, “Oh, they have that in their toolkit, but no one’s ever gotten to see it in terms of the audience here.” And so, one day, surely, you’re going to pull that tool out. And so very exciting for them to be like, “Okay, you’re going to go on to do great things. You’re going to showcase things you haven’t been able to showcase on the show.” Then, of course, bitter because you develop a rapport with your cast members and you feel like a family and it’s very close-knit and you go, “Oh, part of my family is leaving.” You’re like, “My family is changing form right now and I don’t like that because change is always a little uncomfortable.” But, ultimately, I think it’s important of the show, part of why it sustains, is that it evolves. Lorne has such a eye for talent and the show just keeps going because he brings in great people who can fill these really big shoes and fill them in their own unique way. So, yeah, I would say bittersweet, but I’m excited for all of our cast members who left because they’re going to be great.

MJD: And I love the newbies this year. Marcelo Hernandez, Molly Carney, Michael Longfellow, Devin Walker. I feel like usually when there’s featured players, we don’t see them very often as viewers, but all four really, they killed it in their first season. What is it like when newbies arrive on set? Is there a hazing process?

EN: I’m not hazing anybody. I’m certainly not hazing. The part that probably feels like hazing as a first year person, and I can speak to it because at one point I was a first year cast member, is not knowing what the hell is going on. And there’s not a ton of handholding going on. I think this season was really lovely because I do think Lorne, in a way he hasn’t in the past, made it a point to offer each of these new cast members a showcase moment or two or three or more. And that’s not something that has happened in the past in that same way. So I think they came in at a really great time and a special time in the history of the show. The hazing feels like it’s a byproduct of just being thrust into this machine and being like, “Where the hell am I? How does this thing work? Why does this joke I always tell elsewhere, that kills elsewhere, not really working here at table read or not really working for this audience?” And it’s just such a shift and it’s such a huge machine machine, that’s the hazing where you’re hazy, is what it is. You’re like, “Where am I? What is this? How do I find my footing?” And that takes time. But what was nice this year, I would say, is that Lorne did, in a way, again, that he hasn’t in the time that I’ve been there, made it a point to make that space for those new performers. And so that has been great to watch them come into their own at the show.

MJD: I’m curious if you have any dream hosts that you are just itching to see host one day? Personally, Jennifer Coolidge has been on my list forever, and so I was so bummed that her episode has been postponed because of the strike. What about you?

EN: I know. I mean, I’m very excited. I hope that we get Jennifer Coolidge back next season, and I bet we will. That’s got to be on the agenda. Everyone was so excited to have her. I know the audience was excited to see her. So I’m right there with you. My dream host that I keep saying, and hopefully he’ll hear, he’s hosted before, but I want him to host while I’m there, Jamie Foxx, absolutely. He is so versatile. I love his music. I love his comedy. I love his acting. I would love to have him come to the show and I would love to get to do a sketch with him. So I’m going to say my dream host is Jamie Foxx, and I’m going to throw this out here because, why not, Beyonce and Barack Obama should also come. Yes.

MJD: And if Barack is busy, we’ll take Michelle too.

EN: Yeah, that’s fine. We’ll take Michelle. We could do a co-host situation as Steven Martin did. We could do a co-host situation. I’m just throwing it out there, a Michelle and Barack episode.

MJD: Well, Ego, thank you so much for chatting with us today. And final question. The Emmy nominations are coming up. SNL has been a favorite of the Emmy voters over the years. What would it mean to you personally if you were to get a nomination this year?

EN: Oh my goodness. Whoa. It would mean a lot to me. It would mean that I am seen and the work I’m doing at the show is resonating with people. It’s so special and fun to get to do the work that I do, just point-blank period, but then added bonus, icing on the cake, to have it resonate with audiences and actually have people articulate that it’s brought them joy and to have it recognized would be, wow, it would be just a surefire sign that I’m on the right path in doing my life’s work and carving out a space for women that look like me on the show. And so that would mean the world. That would be very special.

MJD: Well, thank you so much and have a wonderful summer.

EN: Thank you. You too. Thanks for taking the time. Bye, Marcus.

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