Cecily Strong took to social media to reflect on her sudden departure from ‘Saturday Night Live.’
via People:
The comedian shared a farewell message on Instagram Monday that looked back at her journey on the iconic NBC comedy sketch show following her last performance as a cast member over the weekend.
Strong, 38, penned a heartfelt note in the Instagram caption alongside a clip from Saturday’s episode featuring her fellow SNL stars and host Austin Butler singing along to “Blue Christmas” by Elvis Presley.
“My heart is bursting,” she began. “I have a lot of big huge life changing love to unpack, so this is what I can say tonight “
“Ten and a half years ago I got my dream job,” she wrote. “The first actual work day I tried to be very cool and make it look like I knew what i was doing and I was supposed to be there. I left that night around 11 after saying goodbye to everyone. I got stuck wandering around the building because none of the elevators went to the first floor and I was trying so hard to avoid having to go back upstairs to ask for help because I’d already said goodbye!!!”
“I think I went to every floor trying to figure out if there was another exit I was missing. I might have even gone into a stairwell,” she continued. “I ended up going back upstairs and my soon-to-be great friend Colin Josthelped me out and walked me over to the secret night time elevator.”
Noting that “it felt as impossible to leave that night as it does now,” she explained, “And my great friend Colin Jost ended up helping me again, this time by getting Elvis to sing me off (thank you Austin Butler you absolute kind and generous dreamboat).”
Discussing her decision to exit the show, she said, “I’m sorry I’ve been a little quiet about it publicly. I didn’t want the extra pressure on something already so emotional for me.”
“And I’m so grateful I got to have these wonderful past six shows to help me ease into it and get to meet and laugh and probably overly hug Molly [Kearney], Marcello [Hernandez], Devon [Walker], and Michael [Longfellow] who I think are not only brilliantly funny but really great humans,” she concluded. “I am ready to go, but I’ll always know home is here. I’ve had the time of my life working with the greatest people on earth.”
Last week, SNL’s official Instagram account announced that Strong would appear in her final episode on Saturday.
A photograph of a sign that read, “We’ll miss you, Cecily” was captioned: “Tonight we send off one of the best to ever do it. We’ll miss you, Cecily!”
Strong first joined SNL back in September 2012 during the show’s 38th season. She was promoted to repertory player in September 2013 during season 39. (Aidy Bryant, 35, and Kate McKinnon, 38, were also upgraded that same season and have since left the series.)
Strong’s return for season 48 of SNL, her 11th overall, made her the longest-tenured female cast member in the show’s history, a spot which was previously held by McKinnon.
During her time on the late-night show, Strong was nominated for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series at the 72nd and 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
We’re going to miss Cecily when ‘SNL’ returns in January.
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