Although Molly Shannon is the face of many iconic, comedic roles in film and television, she still recalls the vivid details of her journey to fame. When Shannon sat down with The Huffington Post on Wednesday, she reminisced about her very first “Saturday Night Live” audition.
Some 20 years ago, Shannon was among a group of comedians who were given just five minutes each to showcase their chops at an “SNL” audition in New York City. In front of her sat “SNL” luminaries, including creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels, comedy writer Jim Downey and comedian Chris Farley.
“I remember thinking, ‘Oh no, I’m tanking,’” she said of her performance to HuffPost’s Lauren Moraski. But rather than getting discouraged, she regaled the trio with an impression of an agent she’d worked for in Los Angeles whom Michaels knew. She remembered him saying, “That’s funny!”
It was months later that Shannon was finally invited back to New York for a second meeting with Michaels. She was so gleeful at the prospect of working on “SNL” that she took an otherwise agonizing experience in stride mere hours after her sitdown with him.
“I was walking home in Tribeca on the street and I got mugged,” she said. “I got slammed down on the ground. ‘Give me your money.’ But I was, like, flying high because I had just met Lorne Michaels so I was like, ‘No problem,’ and I gave him money and I got back up.”
Shannon recalled the event in a lighthearted way, but remembered thinking, “’This is so interesting. This is what it’s like to be mugged.’ But I was just on such a high from meeting Lorne. Isn’t that crazy? The same day.”
The comedian’s fierce resolve and humor has served her well throughout her career. This fall, she’s starring in the comedy-drama, “Other People.”
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