This Is the Only ‘SNL’ Cast Member Who Insulted Lorne Michaels to His Face
While Saturday Night Live’s mandatory underwear directive is well documented, one of the show’s unwritten rules, it would seem, is to avoid being an asshole to boss Lorne Michaels at all costs. Actually, come to think of it, that’s probably a good rule of thumb for any job.
During The Howard Stern Show’s Stern-less SNL “roundtable special,” former cast member Bobby Moynihan shared a story about the time he inadvertently did his Lorne Michaels impression in front of Michaels while telling an anecdote during a pre-show cast dinner with the week’s guest host. “It got really quiet for a second, and he just went, like, ‘Continue,’” Moniyhan recalled.
But that was nothing compared to the time that one cast member blatantly, and hilariously, disrespected the producer. “I was sitting next to Mark McKinney when he pretended to fall asleep,” Ana Gasteyer explained. “Like pretty obviously, while Lorne was talking about architecture from Toronto at a dinner.”
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According to Gasteyer, McKinney straight up closed his eyes and began loudly snoring right in the middle of Michaels’ musings. “I’d never seen anybody go that boldly against the king,” she mused, admiringly.
McKinney, who joined the cast of SNL in 1995, had a distinctly unique history with Michaels. Both McKinney and his Kids in the Hall co-star Bruce McCulloch wrote for SNL in the ‘80s. And even then, they weren’t intimidated by Michaels or the legacy of SNL. According to This Is a Book About the Kids in the Hall by John Semley, when McCulloch was first contacted by an SNL rep who wanted to see their live show in Toronto, he responded, “Well, we’re sold out. We can’t get you in.”
While the writing gig ultimately didn’t work out, once Michaels actually saw the Kids in the Hall perform he became a fan. He didn’t hire any of them for SNL, opting instead to keep the group intact and produce their TV show. “He muscled us onto television,” Scott Thompson told The Hollywood Reporter.
Given all of this, it makes total sense that the Kids in the Hall members had a far different relationship with Michaels than the average SNL cast member. After all, it’s not like he ever tried to personally buy cars for every single SNL star.
And there’s perhaps no greater example of just how comfortable Mark McKinney was playfully ribbing Michaels than the movie Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy. The year before Mike Myers took a similar approach with Dr. Evil in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, McKinney played Brain Candy’s villain as an unsubtle caricature of Michaels. The character, a morally bankrupt executive, who is surrounded by yes men and eager to exploit young talent for his own benefit, sounded exactly like Michaels — who produced the movie.
And keep in mind, Brain Candy came out in 1996, right in the middle of McKinney’s two-year tenure at SNL. Compared to that, what’s a little fake snoring?
