Abby Elliott got her big break on Saturday Night Live doing impressions, following in the legacy of her family.
The Bear star starred on the NBC late-night sketch show for four seasons and in a recent interview, recalled what it was like to work there.
“Every week was a new week, and your happiness would depend on whether you got something on air or not, and if three weeks went by without a sketch, you’d think, ‘Uh-oh, am I going to be fired?’” Elliott said in an interview with The Independent. “There was always that looming threat of getting fired. That was the worst that could happen. And then, I kind of did.”
Elliot joined SNL in 2008 after dropping out of college in 2006 to enroll in improv classes following the encouragement of her father. The comedic star is known for impressions like Rachel Maddow, Drew Barrymore, and Angelina Jolie. Her father, Chris Elliott, starred on a sketch show for one season, and her uncle is a producer and former writer.
After being on the show, Elliot turned to creator and producer Lorne Michaels to exit, but changed her mind soon after.
“I went back to him with my tail between my legs asking to stay, but after that season, Lorne said, ‘No, I’m going to cut you loose,’” Elliot recalled.
Elliot would leave SNL in 2012, adding, “As much as I enjoyed being on that show, sketch comedy wasn’t going to be it for me. It’s not why I started and it’s not how I wanted to end. Also, I had learnt the lessons I was going to learn… and so I left and, you know, the water was warm.”
Following her SNL exit, Elliot guest-starred in shows like 2 Broke Girls, Happy Endings, How I Met Your Mother, and Inside Amy Schumer. She would later land starring roles in Bravo’s Odd Mom Out and NBC’s Indebted before joining The Bear in 2022.
