‘SNL’: Jason Sudeikis Hints at Departure, Kristen Wiig Talks ‘Emotional’ Goodbye

Weeks before Season 37 of Saturday Night Live came to a close, there was rampant speculation that cast members Kristen Wiig, Andy Samberg and Jason Sudeikis would not be returning for Season 38. During the spectacular season finale back in May, there was no question regarding breakout star Wiig’s fate: the Oscar-nominated funny lady got a lovely send-off on live TV and was leaving the show behind for good. (Well, until they inevitably ask her to return as host someday.) Then, a few weeks later, Samberg, who more or less signed off with his 100th Digital Short extravaganza, followed suit and confirmed he had exited the show as well. 

But, now we’re nearly midway through summer and the Season 38 premiere of SNL is but weeks away and there’s still no official word from Sudeikis. What up with that? Well, ponder no more. In a telling interview in the upcoming issue of Men’s Journal, the actor all but confirmed what we pretty much already knew: they are going to have to find someone else to play Vice President Joe Biden this season. According to the New York Daily News, Sudeikis told the magazine, “Goodbyes are tough.” While Sudeikis, who describes SNL as “an amazing job and a horrible job,” has hinted at his exit before (last month he told Rolling Stone, “I’ll miss the people. The people, the process, the parties”), this one seemed to seal the deal. 

It’s no surprise, really, considering Sudeikis, like Wiig, has found the rare big screen success outside of SNL (he’ll follow up hits like Going the Distance and Horrible Bosses with the upcoming comedy The Campaign.) Not to mention the fact that Sudeikis, who has made headlines as something of an unexpected Hollywood casanova (oh, Floyd, you scoundrel), was almost nowhere to be seen over the last season of the show. In fact, during that now-famous Wiig farewell, a clearly emotional Sudeikis left the stage. Now, it seems, for the very last time. 

Of course, if anyone had a tough time getting through their last night at Studio 8H, it was Wiig. The Bridesmaids star, who graces the cover of the August issue of Marie Claire, looking as un-Gilly-like as humanly possible, recalls her touching adieu to the magazine. Wiig says she “knew it was the right time” for her to exit the show which earned her an Emmy nomination. Her touching send-off, which featured a dance with host Mick Jagger and a serenade from Arcade Fire, was “very emotional…. I just wanted to get through it without breaking down in every sketch.” 

The actress continues in the article, “It was a very surreal moment. You have all this stuff going on in your head, like, ‘I can’t believe seven years has gone by, and I’m going to miss all these people’.” In the words of her fellow a-hole in crime, “Goodbyes are hard.” 

[Photo credit: DailyCeleb.com]