Last Saturday, May 21, represented a major changing of the guard on sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. The close of the show's 47th season was also a farewell to several longtime cast members, including Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon, and Kyle Mooney.
Also departing the show is Aidy Bryant, who grew up right here in Phoenix.
Bryant was born in the Valley in 1987 (her mother, Georganne Bryant, founded popular boutique Frances). She participated in improv workshops through the now-defunct Arizona Jewish Theatre Company and graduated from Xavier College Preparatory in central Phoenix in 2005 before earning a theater degree at Columbia College in Chicago.
In 2013, she told Phoenix New Times, "My parents have been super-supportive of me going after [her career], because it's sort of an unconventional path. But yeah, I was really lucky. When I was around 15 years old, I had been doing these theater camps for kids and stuff like that, but I met a teacher who taught real improvisation, very comparable to what I ended up doing in Chicago, which got me hired for SNL."
Her first appearance on SNL was on September 15, 2012, in the 38th season. She became a repertory player, or regular cast member, for the 39th season. Over the course of a decade, she was nominated for three Emmy Awards, including two nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
Of course, SNL isn't all Bryant has done. She had a four-episode arc on the HBO show Girls and guest-starred on programs like Broad City, Portlandia, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
From 2019 to 2021, Bryant starred in Shrill, a Hulu comedy series that she also co-wrote and co-produced. For her work, she earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. Currently, she is the voice of Emmy on the adult animated series Human Resources.
In our 2013 interview with Bryant, we asked her what she wanted to do when her time at Saturday Night Live was over.
"I don't know. To be honest, I just started doing what I'm doing," she said. "So my head is totally SNL right now. It's my number-one focus. And it's a lot to focus on. So as far as future plans I don't have any. I trust that all that will come. But right now, I'm so excited about what I'm doing and the new things that are happening at SNL. That's where my focus is. So I don't know where I'm headed, but I know I love where I'm at."
"I don't know. To be honest, I just started doing what I'm doing," she said. "So my head is totally SNL right now. It's my number-one focus. And it's a lot to focus on. So as far as future plans I don't have any. I trust that all that will come. But right now, I'm so excited about what I'm doing and the new things that are happening at SNL. That's where my focus is. So I don't know where I'm headed, but I know I love where I'm at."
