Leslie Jones is opening up about her tenure at Saturday Night Live.
The acclaimed comedian claimed she was frequently asked to play the stereotypical “angry” Black woman.
Appearing on the “The Sam Sanders Show” podcast, she shared her experience.
“It was kind of frustrating that they would always make me the girl who was angry and beating up people or in love with a white boy,” Jones said. “They just always would make me angry or I’m fighting somebody.”
When Sanders asked Jones if she was comfortable at the time, she explained that“she wanted to be on the show,” and “didn’t think that that was happening until it kept happening.”
“Every time I would get a sketch, I was like, ‘OK, who am I beating up this week?’” she added. “I just started getting frustrated with [the writers]. I was like, ‘Stop writing me like that.’”
After speaking up, Jones said the typecasting went on.
“They’re like, ‘This is successful. When you leave here, you’ll be able to make [a career],’” Jones recalled. “I don’t want to be Chevy Chase. I don’t want to be whoever. I want to be Leslie. I want to do everything. And I wanted to go across the board with everything, you know?”
Sanders then asked if Jones would say that “SNL” was a “healthy place to be a black comic.”
Jones responded, “I think that it is the machine that it is. That’s just all I can tell you.”
JONES’ TIME AT ‘SNL’
From 2014-2019, Jones appeared on SNL. Originally hired as a writer at age 47, she quickly broke out as a featured player and eventual repertory cast member. She made history as the oldest person to join the cast. Jone was an immediate fan favorite through her powerhouse appearances on Weekend Update, where she regularly flirted with Colin Jost.
Currently, Jones is actively touring across the United States on her “I’m Hot Tour.”