Saturday Night Live: Ashley Padilla On Not Pulling Show All-nighters

Since joining Saturday Night Live in season 50, Ashley Padilla is fast gaining prominence as a featured player, and her star is only skyrocketing in season 51 with memorable impressions of Sen Amy Klobuchar, Karoline Leavitt, Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, Roger Sherman, and Mary-Kate Olsen. Among her popular characters are Stefania, Penelope, Joann, Girl Who Just Hooked Up, Melissa Kathy, and Beverly. With her signature pauses, Padilla shone in the sketch "Mom Confession" as a mother who is slowly admitting her MAGA support in front of her progressive children (host Alexander Skarsgård, Andrew Dismukes, Sarah Sherman, Jane Wickline) just before the family supports their father's (James Austin Johnson) birthday. Another memorable sketch was the "Passing Notes" sketch featuring host Ryan Gossling as the two play teacher and principal in front of high school class (Wickline, Marcello Hernández, Kam Patterson, Mikey Day) who are passing notes during their speech, not knowing that the notes from the SNL writers passed were swapped from rehearsal and the ones read live by Padilla and Gosling caught them by surprise with expected breaking moments. Padilla spoke at The Hollywood Reporter Comedy roundtable with Keke Palmer, Lisa Kudrow, Rachel Sennot, and Quinta Brunson to discuss their careers and projects.

Saturday Night Live: Ashley Padilla Shares How She Preps for Show

When it came to how she prepares for her SNL sketches, it's not like many of her peers who burn the midnight oil akin to college for ideas: "I tend to mind my own business, in a way. I submit my sketch before bedtime [at SNL]. And then everyone's like, 'I was up till 4.' And I'm like, 'Oh, no.' Maybe minding my business sounds horrible …. It doesn't mean I'm not turning in my work and being a hundred percent. But to be a hundred percent, I need sleep." For more on how Padilla landed her spot on the Lorne Michaels series, how she responds to her surging popularity online, comparing SNL to the Groundlings, why she doesn't see the show as "competitive," how she fits in, and her stance on scatological humor, you can check out the whole article.