Kate McKinnon On Leaving ‘Saturday Night Live’ After A Decade: ‘My Body Was Tired’

Kate McKinnon recently opened up about why she finally departed from Saturday Night Live after ten long years of characters and impressions that won her two Emmy awards. She appeared on Live with Kelly and Ryan Thursday to discuss her new projects as well as the difficult decision she made to quit SNL.

“I thought about it for a very long time and it was very, very hard,” McKinnon said to the co-hosts. “I had the best decade, and then I was just like… my body was tired and I felt like it was time,” she admitted. Saturday Night Live has a grueling production schedule to make a weekly sketch show happen, and working there for a decade is extremely tiring no matter what position you have on the show above or below the line.

When asked how she plans to fill her new free time on Saturday nights, McKinnon admitted that she’s not ready to tune in and watch the show. “It’s just too emo because I miss everyone so much.” The actor is more likely to tape The Bachelorette and watch that until she’s ready to see her old friends on SNL again.

Along with catching up on her favorite dating shows, McKinnon is certainly keeping busy on post-SNL projects. She didn’t name the film she was shooting in London, but will soon be heard voicing an evil guinea pig in the film DC League of Super-Pets which she discussed in the full interview. She even mentioned that the character’s voice was inspired by Olivia de Havilland’s character in an obscure 60s thriller titled Lady In A Cage which also starred James Caan in one of his first major roles.

She also recently played a fictionalized version of Carole Baskin in a mini-series adaptation of Tiger King titled Joe vs. Carole that premiered this year on Peacock. McKinnon also recently secured yet another Emmy for Best Supporting Actress from her swan song season at Saturday Night Live.