Sometimes comedy hurts, literally. To prove that point, after Will Ferrell previously credited Molly Shannon for saving Saturday Night Live with her character Mary Katherine Gallagher, she explained that she actually got a ton of bruises while playing her. So, while those sketches must have been painful for the SNL star, it also, clearly, paid off.
Now, recurring characters on SNL are a must. When something works, it’s consistently brought back and is made even better. During Shannon's time on SNL from 1995 to 2001, she had a few recurring characters, including Mary Katherine Gallagher. The fan-favorite character made her debut during Season 21 in 1995, and Shannon shared on Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend that the sketch, which frequently called for intense stunts, gave her some bruises the day after the show:
