Kansas City native Heidi Gardner is in the middle of her eighth season on Saturday Night Live and has carved out a role as one of the most well-known faces of the current cast. Last month, KSHB 41 Anchors Taylor Hemness and Lindsay Shively got the chance to sit down with her in New York for an exclusive conversation about how she found her funny and what it means to be part of the iconic show as it celebrates its 50th season.
“I read somewhere that you were voted ‘Most Likely To Be On SNL’ , said Hemness. “Is that right?”
“Yeah,” said Gardner. “I was a fan of SNL and I liked that people thought I was funny, so it felt very neat to get that superlative. There was also a superlative at the time that was ‘Most Likely To Be In An MTV Movie’ and I think I came in second,” she said.
Maybe we should all thank Gardner’s classmates for putting her on a path that gives us all so many laughs today.
“You watched SNL growing up with your parents too?” Shively asked.
“I would, I would fall asleep like halfway through because I was a little kid and I’d wake up on Sunday morning and realize, like, I missed Weekend Update and the second half of the show and I’d be like, ‘Mom, why did you let me go to bed?’ she laughed.
Flash forward a few years and Heidi was living in Los Angeles. She had quit her job as a hairdresser to pursue comedy, just hoping for the shot she eventually got.
“You know, you’re writing new sketch shows, every couple of months and you’re putting up new material,” she said. “But it was just for the love of it, you know? You’re doing it for free. And I quit my job which was paying me and now I’m paying for all my costumes and wigs.”
“And it just so happened that SNL wanted to see me in a showcase,” she said. “My life changed in a second when Lorne called me to tell me I got the show.”
The magic of it all isn’t lost on her.
“I’m like technically we have the same job as Eddie Murphy has, like we have the same career, ya know?”
More of those legends have been around for this 50th season and will be part of the big celebration. Gardner, a lifelong SNL fan, is just as excited as everyone else.
“The fact that we basically had Dana Carvey and Andy Samberg back on the cast for, you know the first half of the season, and Maya. It was very cool to feel a part of that. Yeah and there’s just this energy. Everyone is so excited.”
You can watch “SNL 50 the Anniversary Special” at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 16, on KSHB 41.
