For many up-and-coming comedians and comedic actors, being cast on SNL is the holy grail. The popular sketch show has kickstarted the careers of many of the country’s most beloved comedic actors including Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Kristen Wiig, Will Ferrell, Bill Murray, and even Eddie Murphy, but there is one actor that is thankful he did not end up on the show. Donald Glover believes if he had been cast, he would have walked a very different path to the one he is on now.
Glover is a classic example of a Renaissance man, working in the fields of stand-up comedy, comedic acting, dramatic acting, singer/songwriting, directing, and producing. The performer has been lauded for his work in all fields, winning major accolades over the years for his thought-provoking work. Of course, this didn’t happen overnight for Glover, and he worked his way up often with the regular levels of rejection that most get when starting out in the entertainment industry.
This rejection included not being cast on SNL, which Glover auditioned for twice back in 2007 and 2008. When he eventually did end up on the show as a host a decade later, he used his opening monologue to reminisce about this time in his life, saying, “It truly is an honor to be hosting SNL, you know instead of just auditioning for it, which I did twice. That’s not a joke, I’m just still pissed.”
There have been many celebrities that failed to make it into the annuls of SNL cast members but went on to do great things, such as Aubrey Plaza, Stephen Colbert, Jim Carrey, and even Lisa Kudrow of Friends fame. Glover even feels that he “dodged a bullet” by not getting cast according to Deadline.
“Me being on SNL would’ve killed me. I got friends who made it on SNL and, at the time, I was like, damn. But if I got on SNL, my career wouldn’t have happened.”
It is true, we suppose, that Glover would not have had the same career trajectory had he been cast in SNL, though we doubt he would have faded into obscurity either. No matter what, this man was headed for greatness. Another “dodged bullet” came in the form of failing an audition for Parks and Recreation, which he is also now happy about, saying,
“Thank God I didn’t get some of those pilots. I wanted so desperately to be on Parks and Rec because it was the cool, hipster show. I am the bullet dodger. I feel like Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction. That wasn’t a mistake, you know? God did that.”
As the saying goes, when one door closes another opens, and we think that Glover should perhaps give himself more credit than God when it comes to his perseverance in the face of rejection as well as his ability to turn a bad situation into a phenomenal one.