Cecile Strong thinks about her time Saturday Night Live after saying goodbye to the Saturday sketch comedy series.
After participation SNL in 2012, Strong created numerous recurring characters such as Cathy Anne and Tammy the Trucker and impersonated celebrities such as Kendall Jenner, Megyn Kelly and Liz Cheney. It’s clear that Strong had always planned to only return for the first half of Season 48, as she looks forward to new opportunities.
“My heart is bursting. Got a lot of big life changing loves to unwrap so here’s what I can say tonight,” Strong began her Instagram post, reminiscing about how she landed her dream job when she landed a spot as a SNL cast member.
She shared a story about her first night at Studio 8H and how, after saying goodbye to her new colleagues, she couldn’t find the “secret night elevator,” so she had to return and ask for help.
“Eventually I went back upstairs and my soon-to-be good friend Colin Jost helped me and took me to the secret night elevator,” Strong continued. “It felt just as impossible to leave that night as it does now. And finally my good friend Colin Jost helped me out again, this time by letting Elvis sing to me (thank you Austin Butler, your absolutely kind and generous dreamboat).”
She apologized for being so quiet about leaving, explaining that she didn’t want to put any extra pressure on something that was “so emotional” for her already.
“I’m so grateful to have had these amazing past six shows to help me take it easy and meet and laugh and probably hug over the top [new castmembers] molly [Kearney]Marcello [Hernández]Devon [Walker]and Michael [Longfellow] who I think are not only brilliantly funny, but really great people.
The comedian concluded her message with, “I’m ready to go, but I’ll always know my home is here.” I’ve had the time of my life working with the best people on the planet.”
Strong marks ninth cast member to leave SNL since May when Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon and Kyle Mooney left the show. Their exits were followed by Alex Moffat, Melissa Villaseñor and Aristotle Athari over the summer and finally Chris Redd in September.