ENTERTAINMENT'I Was Falling Apart': Andy Samberg Reveals Why He Couldn't 'Endure' Working on 'SNL' After 7 Seasons
Andy Samberg couldn’t do Saturday Night Live without his pals by his side!
On the latest episode of Peacock’s Hart to Heart, the comedian, 45, revealed why he decided to leave the sketch comedy show after working there for seven years.
Andy Samberg is married to Joanna Newsom.
“It was a big choice. For me, it was like, I can’t actually endure it anymore, but I didn’t want to leave,” Samberg, who was on the show from 2005-2012, told host Hart Kevin.
“Physically and emotionally, like I was falling apart in my life,” Samberg admitted before noting how the final straw in his decision came after his Lonely Island bandmates, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, departed the NBC series.
After the pair left, Samberg came to the realization he couldn’t create hits like “D--- in a Box” and “I’m on a Boat” without them.
“I was basically left in charge of making the shorts, which I never pretended like I could do without them,” he explained, noting that the trio had a chemistry he could not find with other writers.
Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone all worked on sketches together.
“We made stuff I’m really proud of in those last two years, but there’s something about the songs that I can only do with Akiva and Jorm. It’s just how it is, we’re just a band in that way,” Samberg continued.
SNL’s time commitment also led to Samberg’s decision to leave, as the Palm Springs star admitted, he “hadn’t slept in seven years basically.”
Andy Samberg left after Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone did.
“We were writing stuff for the live show Tuesday night all night, the table read Wednesday, then being told now come up with a digital short so write all Thursday [and] Thursday night, don’t sleep, get up, shoot Friday, edit all night Friday night and into Saturday, so it’s basically like four days a week you’re not sleeping, for seven years,” the father-of-two shared.
“So I just kinda fell apart physically,” he added.
Andy Samberg was on 'SNL' from 2005-2012.
Since making his SNL exit, Samberg has had immense success, including staring on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, hosting the Emmys and landing multiple movies. The celeb has also returned to host the show as well as made cameos.
“It sounds very corny and rehearsed, but I’m just always like I still can’t believe I get to do comedy for a living,” Samberg gushed to Hart.
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“It’s all I wanted to do. I got to be on SNL. It went way better than I expected,” he concluded.
