The Funniest People in the Room

NBC's Saturday Night Live marks an incredible five decades on the air this year. ELLE enlisted Mikey Day to get a behind-the-scenes look at his castmates, the women who make our weekends.

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"Hello to meet you." That was the weird greeting I gave Tina Fey when she hosted Saturday Night Live's 2013 season premiere. It was my first week at the show and I was terrified just being in the building, much less meeting someone I admired so fiercely. Since then, I've been fortunate to work with several more of the unfathomably talented women who have helped define SNL's half century on the air. And while my greetings have improved, the thrill of working alongside them has never faded.

When Maya Rudolph hosted in 2021, I played Sean Evans to her Beyoncé in a Hot Ones parody. Sitting across from her at a bar table, I had a front-row seat to her wondrously unhinged performance. As Maya downed milk like a madwoman, I became so enraptured by how funny she was that I fully forgot I was in a sketch. So much so, I was legit confused when the camera cut back to me.

In my defense, it's quite easy to become spellbound by the women of SNL. From Roseanne Roseannadanna to the Sweeney Sisters, from Schweddy Balls to Bronx Beat, from Dooneese’s tiny clapping hands to Debbie Downer announcing, “By the way, it’s official, I can’t have children”—their legacy is a mighty one.The women in the current cast are undoubtedly keeping that legacy intact. I think I speak for all my fellow gentleman castmates when I say that it’s an honor to be outshined by them every Saturday. Each one is unique in their point of view and what they bring to the show, yet alike in their collective fearlessness on camera and their kindness off-camera. Needless to say, I love all of these whip-smart, enchanting goof-balls dearly. The reason ELLE approached me to interview them is clear: Bowen Yang was busy. And though my prior journalistic career consisted solely of a piece for my high school yearbook, I eagerly took this assignment on, channeled my inner Diane Sawyer, and set my sights on the six lovely women of Saturday Night Live.