For many comedians, landing a gig as a cast member on Saturday Night Live is a massive career goal, seeing as how the show has launched many talents to superstardom across several decades. The legendary sketch show is in Season 51 for the 2026 TV schedule, and someone who’s been climbing the fame ladder in the eyes of fans is Ashley Padilla, who many think is the next breakout SNL star. She’s now shared an awesome take when asked about the most difficult part of working on the series.
What SNL’s Ashley Padilla Said About The Hardest Part Of Starring On The Show
From the very beginning, SNL has been a breeding ground for comedic talent, and as it’s now in its 51st season, we have veterans like longest-tenured cast member Kenan Thompson, Colin Jost, Michael Che, and Chloe Fineman working alongside those who are much newer to the comedy.
Those include Ashley Padilla, who joined in 2024 just in time for the landmark 50th season, and has already racked up so many sketch appearances in just two seasons that she’s starting to become a household name (despite thinking she’d lost her chance at starring after meeting with Lorne Michaels). When asked by Vulture recently what the hardest part of the job as been so far, Padilla had a refreshing answer that goes contrary to what we’ve frequently heard about how stressful it can be, and said:
I don’t think I have one. I get to make money doing comedy. I’m surrounded by the funniest fucking people you can imagine. There’s an office for us to go to, to write our comedy. We get to be funny on television and then do it again the week after.
Wow, right? On one hand, this could just be the newness of the situation for her, or the fact that she’s really firing on all cylinders during her short time there and has managed to avoid the struggle many SNL newbies face of the writers not knowing what to do with her. Or, this could just be a natural tendency to see the best possible aspects of everything and not dwell on the negatives. Speaking of which, Padilla continued, and noted the only thing that’s a slight “issue” for her:
I’m not joking. What could I possibly complain about? My one issue is that there’s not enough time in the world to do it forever. I have so many ideas all the time. They start to pile up. I wish we had a hundred shows.
A hundred shows? Per season?! I can almost hear former stars like Andy Samberg and Bill Hader, who’ve both opened up about the anxiety of doing a live show weekly, groaning at the mere thought of that idea. Star Chris Redd admitted he left the series because it made his already present issues with anxiety worse. Hell, even the aforementioned Thompson has talked about how “stressful” his initial audition was, while comedy legend Conan O’Brien (who wrote for SNL but never appeared on camera) talked about feeling “like there was a gun against my head all the time” when he worked there.
So, to hear that Padilla just ain’t about that pressure-filled life is a true game changer, and could very well signal a long and successful Saturday Night Live stint for the funny lady.
