It was meant as a compliment and Kristen Wiig genuinely was flattered.
"Oh, thank you," Wiig said when it was suggested to her that when comparing the current Saturday Night Live cast, of which Wiig is a member, to the classic SNL casts, she is the new Dan Aykroyd.
Not in the looks department, of course. Wiig is quite fetching, especially in person. And Dan? ... well, we love him, but we recall Homer Simpson proudly proclaiming at one point that he and Dan Aykroyd share some physical attributes. 'Nuff said.
Anyway, the heart of the compliment was based on talent.
Back in SNL's early days, John Belushi's characters always were sort of like John Belushi, and Bill Murray's characters always were sort of like Bill Murray. Not that they weren't hilarious, but those larger- than-life comedians always tended to play versions of themselves.
Aykroyd, on the other hand, was the guy who had to become different people. He never seemed to be playing a version of himself. And that versatility allowed the skits to go in all kinds of different directions.
These days, Wiig has grown into that role on SNL.
She joined the cast in 2005, but in the past two seasons she has gone from someone you saw occasionally to someone who seems to be in just about every skit.
Wiig is that kind of blank-slate comedian who changes in every skit and never merely is drawing upon her own persona.
"I don't know, I guess that's true," said Wiig, a 34-year-old native of Rochester, N.Y. "I don't ever play myself on the show, so I guess that's what you mean.
"I prefer that, I think, to go on stage and be a character in a sketch rather than go out and be myself. It's less pressure for me, I think, yeah."
Wiig's talent was on full display a few weeks ago, during a skit in which SNL guest-host Christopher Walken was playing a grandfather who was trying to plan a surprise party for his granddaughter.
The whole skit was based upon the reactions of Wiig's character, who was just so excited about the prospect of throwing a surprise party that she couldn't contain herself. It was one of those five-minute segments where you come away from it thinking, "Man, she is really talented."
Another recent favourite was Wiig's high-strung impression of an almost-50-year-old Jamie Lee Curtis, who has eaten so much of the yogurt she's advertising that she develops an uncontrollable case of the runs.
"I don't want to do just an impression, where I just look and sound like someone," Wiig said. "Like when Darrell Hammond does Sean Connery, yes, he sounds like him and looks like him, but the best part for me is he's so vulgar, and that's the character (Hammond) put with that. So that's the challenge for me, to try to find that thing in a person."
In a new episode of Saturday Night Live tomorrow on Global and NBC, Shia LaBeouf is the host, with musical guest My Morning Jacket. The season-finale is next week, with Steve Carell as host and musical guest Usher.
It has been an okay year for SNL overall. Things always pick up for the show when it's an election year in the United States, although we must say, Amy Poehler's impression of Hillary Clinton and Fred Armisen's impression of Barack Obama both leave us a tad cold.
Poehler looks and laughs like Clinton, but to our ears, Poehler's voice doesn't conjure Clinton at all. Nit-picky, we know, but it just doesn't quite work for us. And Armisen neither looks nor sounds like Obama, and it has nothing to do with the fact that Armisen isn't black, which predictably became an issue south of the border.
Anyway, for all of SNL's successes and failures, Kristen Wiig is firing on all cylinders right now. Let's hope she decides to stick around for a few more years.
Wiig is the one who is kind of holding it all together. Just like Dan Aykroyd before her.
I've caught a few SNLs recently and was thinking the same thing, Wiig is really talented and she really tried hard at each role. Plus she's easy on the eyes.
She's got potential, although the nasal pathological liar is being overdone. She should concentrate on getting another schtick going before it really gets tired. She ought to grab one of Maya's celeb impersonations, or keep Amy Poehler from grabbing the next one. Something bright and cheery for contrast. Then work on a full palate. Right now, the character development is at a point where she has to push to make the humor happen. The best characters don't have to say a word, you're already laughing.
shes good sometimes, but she seems like she went to the molly shannon school of comedy, regarding her characters.(ie: it will be funny as long as I use a weird voice and yell and spaz out a lot.... target lady, birthday surprise lady, aunt linda and so on...)
> It was meant as a compliment and Kristen Wiig genuinely was flattered.
> "Oh, thank you," Wiig said when it was suggested to her that when > comparing the current Saturday Night Live cast, of which Wiig is a > member, to the classic SNL casts, she is the new Dan Aykroyd.
> Not in the looks department, of course. Wiig is quite fetching, > especially in person. And Dan? ... well, we love him, but we recall > Homer Simpson proudly proclaiming at one point that he and Dan Aykroyd > share some physical attributes. 'Nuff said.
> Anyway, the heart of the compliment was based on talent.
> Back in SNL's early days, John Belushi's characters always were sort > of like John Belushi, and Bill Murray's characters always were sort of > like Bill Murray. Not that they weren't hilarious, but those larger- > than-life comedians always tended to play versions of themselves.
> Aykroyd, on the other hand, was the guy who had to become different > people. He never seemed to be playing a version of himself. And that > versatility allowed the skits to go in all kinds of different > directions.
> These days, Wiig has grown into that role on SNL.
> She joined the cast in 2005, but in the past two seasons she has gone > from someone you saw occasionally to someone who seems to be in just > about every skit.
> Wiig is that kind of blank-slate comedian who changes in every skit > and never merely is drawing upon her own persona.
> "I don't know, I guess that's true," said Wiig, a 34-year-old native > of Rochester, N.Y. "I don't ever play myself on the show, so I guess > that's what you mean.
> "I prefer that, I think, to go on stage and be a character in a sketch > rather than go out and be myself. It's less pressure for me, I think, > yeah."
> Wiig's talent was on full display a few weeks ago, during a skit in > which SNL guest-host Christopher Walken was playing a grandfather who > was trying to plan a surprise party for his granddaughter.
> The whole skit was based upon the reactions of Wiig's character, who > was just so excited about the prospect of throwing a surprise party > that she couldn't contain herself. It was one of those five-minute > segments where you come away from it thinking, "Man, she is really > talented."
> Another recent favourite was Wiig's high-strung impression of an > almost-50-year-old Jamie Lee Curtis, who has eaten so much of the > yogurt she's advertising that she develops an uncontrollable case of > the runs.
> "I don't want to do just an impression, where I just look and sound > like someone," Wiig said. "Like when Darrell Hammond does Sean > Connery, yes, he sounds like him and looks like him, but the best part > for me is he's so vulgar, and that's the character (Hammond) put with > that. So that's the challenge for me, to try to find that thing in a > person."
> In a new episode of Saturday Night Live tomorrow on Global and NBC, > Shia LaBeouf is the host, with musical guest My Morning Jacket. The > season-finale is next week, with Steve Carell as host and musical > guest Usher.
> It has been an okay year for SNL overall. Things always pick up for > the show when it's an election year in the United States, although we > must say, Amy Poehler's impression of Hillary Clinton and Fred > Armisen's impression of Barack Obama both leave us a tad cold.
> Poehler looks and laughs like Clinton, but to our ears, Poehler's > voice doesn't conjure Clinton at all. Nit-picky, we know, but it just > doesn't quite work for us. And Armisen neither looks nor sounds like > Obama, and it has nothing to do with the fact that Armisen isn't > black, which predictably became an issue south of the border.
> Anyway, for all of SNL's successes and failures, Kristen Wiig is > firing on all cylinders right now. Let's hope she decides to stick > around for a few more years.
> Wiig is the one who is kind of holding it all together. Just like Dan > Aykroyd before her.
I couldn't agree more. She and Amy Poehler have been getting really dominant lately. I noticed right from the start that she was quite a cut above the standard SNL fare. She has her misses here and there (that " nasal pathological liar" is indeed way overdone) , but she just nails practically everything she tries. A few weeks ago her portrayal of Pam from The Office was deadly. And tonight she she really got Suze Ormon so incredibly right. I really think both she and Poehler aren't going to stay much longer. They're destined for major movies, or at the very least their own shows.
On May 11, 1:06 am, condumbnat...@gmail.com wrote:
> I couldn't agree more. > She and Amy Poehler have been getting really dominant lately. > I noticed right from the start that she was quite a cut above the > standard SNL fare. > She has her misses here and there (that " nasal pathological liar" is > indeed way overdone) , but she just nails practically everything she > tries.
Her "meteoric" rise seems to have a lot to Maya's departure after the writer's strike, of which I have still have no idea why. But being able to go toe to toe with Amy Adams said a lot about her.
> A few weeks ago her portrayal of Pam from The Office was deadly.
On May 12, 1:33 am, Jim Roberts <jim.robe...@cavtel.net> wrote:
> Kristin was impressive long before Maya left.
Yeah, but there's almost no way that a newbie usurps an established performer's screen time on the show. Lorne and company had to scramble to replace Maya and cover her screen time. They got a new actress and Kristen had her opening.
