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13 Major Actors We Had No Idea Got Rejected By Saturday Night Live

Turns out, auditioning for SNL is kind of a rite of passage.

13 Major Actors We Had No Idea Got Rejected By Saturday Night Live

December 27, 2021

Welcome to ComedyNerd, Cracked's new deep-dive series on funny business. (Also, you can stay up to date with the ComedyNerd newsletter -- sign up here.)

Apparently, SNL has a gigantic pile of rejections, and we've waded into it to bring you 13 particular juicy ones. Enjoy:

13

Ellie Kemper

COMEDY NERD Ellie Kemper auditioned for SNL back in 2008 ... ... and she totally bombed. It went bad right from the start, she says: I'm an anxious, nervous person, and I'm going to 30 Rockefeller Center to meet Lorne Michaels. Of course, I call him Michael @RACKED COM Lornes. I mean, his last name sounds like — Source

12

Tiffany Haddish

COMEDY NERD Tiffany Haddish auditioned for SNL once, but she got rejected. She said If they don't give it to me, fuck them, and also said that next time she'll be hosting and that's that - which is what happened. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

Lisa Kudrow

COMEDY NERD Lisa Kudrow and Kathy Griffin both got passed over, at the same time, for jobs at SNL. Lisa Kudrow thought, Maybe you're one of those people for whom good things don't happen, and she says Kathy Griffin may have been crying afterward. CRACKED.COM — Source

10

Donald Glover

COMEDY NERD Donald Glover auditioned for SNL twice, and he failed both times. When he hosted SNL in 2018, he said, It truly is an honor to be hosting SNL instead of just auditioning for it, which I did, twice. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

Geena Davis

COMEDY NERD Geena Davis auditioned for SNL in 1984, but didn't get the job in the end. She wasn't really a comedic actress, but she did star in a few comedies, which caught SNL'S attention when they were putting together a new cast-but it didn't work out. CRACKED.COM — Source

8

Steve Carell

COMEDY NERD Steve Carell auditioned for SNL in 1995, and so did his wife at the time. ON .M She got it, but he didn't - which must have made things incredibly awkward. CRACKED.COM — Source

7

TJ Miller

COMEDY NERD TJ Miller auditioned for SNL back in 2008, and he did not get the job. For some reason, rumors started going around that he bombed on purpose in the audition and even threw a beer bottle at Lorne Michaels (which did not happen). CRACKED.COM — Source

6

Rachel Bloom

COMEDY NERD Crazy Ex-Girlfriend creator Rachel Bloom auditioned for SNL once. She did Katharine Hepburn auditioned to play Bugs Bunny in Space Jam-which, alas, did not work out. CRACKED.COM — Source

5

Louis CK

COMEDY NERD Years ago, Louis CK auditioned for SNL, but didn't get the job in the end. 10 Just to rub salt into the wound, he auditioned at a comedy club with a bunch of other comedians, and they all got it. CRACKED.COM — Source

4

Kevin Hart

COMEDY NERD Kevin Hart auditioned for SNL once, and ended up totally bombing. n Не tried to do an impression of basketball coach Avery Johnson, but it didn't work-- Lorne Michaels didn't even know who that was, so the impression fell flat. CRACKED.COM — Source

3

Stephen Colbert

COMEDY NERD Stephen Colbert unsuccessfully auditioned for SNL in the 1990s. Later, in 2015, when they asked Lorne Michaels Whom did you overlook that you kicked yourself over later?, his first answer was Stephen Colbert. CRACKED.COM — Source

2

Jim Carrey

COMEDY NERD Jim Carrey auditioned for SNL all the way back in 1980 ... but failed. His tape never even reached Lorne Michaels, because a staffer didn't think Carrey would be a good fit. CRACKED.COM — Source

1

Denzel Washington

COMEDY NERD Once upon a time, Denzel Washington himself auditioned for SNL. Не was apparently really good and, Amy Poehler says, I don't know how he didn't get it. And I don't know how we did. CRACKED.COM — Source

Tags:

Saturday Night Live

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