Andy Samberg left “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) in 2012, a decision driven by the need to safeguard his physical and mental wellbeing. The comedian and actor, who joined the iconic show in 2005, found the demanding work schedule increasingly unsustainable. In a candid interview on Kevin Hart’s Peacock show “Hart to Heart,” Samberg revealed the toll that SNL’s grueling hours took on him, both physically and emotionally.
“For me, it was like I can’t actually endure it anymore, physically and emotionally,” Samberg said. “I was falling apart in my life.” The intense schedule at SNL required him to work four days a week without proper sleep for seven years, leading to a physical breakdown. “We’re not built to operate that way,” he added, describing the experience as hitting a wall.
Samberg’s departure was further complicated by the exit of his Lonely Island collaborators, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, in 2010. The trio had created multiple viral hits such as “Lazy Sunday,” “On the Ground,” and “I’m On a Boat.” When Schaffer and Taccone left, Samberg was left to create digital shorts alone, a task he found challenging. “We made stuff I’m really proud of in my last two years, but there’s something about the songs that I can only do with Akiva and Jorm,” he explained. “It’s just how it is, we’re just a band in that way.”
Despite the creative satisfaction and the instant gratification of seeing his ideas on television, the toll on his health made it unsustainable. “Physically, it was taking a heavy toll on me, and I got to a place where I hadn’t slept in seven years,” Samberg said. “It’s basically like four days a week you’re not sleeping, for seven years. I just kind of fell apart physically.”
Samberg made it clear that he didn’t “want” to leave. However, in order to “get back to a feeling of mental and physical health,” he knew what he had to do. Prior to leaving, the “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” actor consulted with former SNL cast members who understood all too well, including “Parks and Recreation” star Amy Poehler. After doing a guest spot on the government sitcom, Samberg said he was able to “see that life.” Poehler told him, “It’s pretty comfortable, Samberg,” referring to the easier schedule and less intense hours.
Despite being asked to stay, Samberg said, “I think to get back to a feeling of like mental and physical health, I had to do it. So I did it, and it was a very difficult choice…I didn’t like leaving.” Shortly following his leave, Samberg was cast as Jake Peralta on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” in 2013. One year later, he returned to host SNL in 2014.
Plenty of “Saturday Night Live” alums have spoken publicly about the grueling nature of working on the variety show. But it sounds like Andy Samberg may have had an even more demanding work schedule than most — especially in his last two seasons. In the latest episode of Kevin Hart’s Peacock interview series, “Hart to Hart,” Samberg described the “intoxicating” feeling of working on the show and how it eventually took a toll on him. “Physically and emotionally, like, I was falling apart in my life,” Samberg confessed.
Samberg — along with his longtime friends and Lonely Island collaborators, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone — breathed new life into the show in 2005 when they were hired to create digital shorts. The trio even helped put YouTube on the map with the virality of their fan-favorite musical pre-tape sketches like “Lazy Sunday,” “I’m on a Boat,” and the Emmy-winning “Dick in a Box.” When Schaffer and Taccone’s contracts were up after five years, both decided to leave the show. But Samberg stayed and found himself picking up the slack. “I was basically left in charge of making the shorts, which I never pretended like I could do without them,” Samberg said.
He went on to describe his jam-packed schedule with the additional responsibility. “We were writing stuff for the live show Tuesday night all night, the table read Wednesday, then being told now come up with a digital short so write all Thursday [and] Thursday night, don’t sleep, get up, shoot Friday, edit all night Friday night and into Saturday, so it’s basically like four days a week you’re not sleeping, for seven years. So I just kinda fell apart physically.”
After seven seasons, Samberg made the difficult decision to quietly leave “SNL” after the season 37 finale in May 2012. He confirmed his departure weeks later. “It was a big choice. For me, it was like, I can’t actually endure it anymore. But I didn’t want to leave” for a variety of reasons, Samberg told Hart. “I was like, once I go, when I have an idea, I can’t just do it,” he recalled. “The craziest thing about working there is once you get going, if you’re just in the shower and you have an idea, that shit can be on television in three days, which is the most, like, intoxicating feeling.”
What made the whole thing even trickier is that the show did not want him to quit. “They told me straight up, ‘We prefer you would stay,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, that makes it harder,’” he said. “But I just was like, I think to get back to a feeling of like mental and physical health, I have to do it. So I did it, and it was a very difficult choice.”
Samberg went on to star in “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” from 2013 to 2021, a Golden Globe-winning comedy that gained such a loyal following that when fans protested Fox’s cancellation of the show online in 2018, NBC picked it up the very next day, extending its life for two more seasons. The comedian also reunited with his Lonely Island partners in 2016 to make “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping,” lent his voice to the “Hotel Transylvania” franchise, hosted the Emmys, and starred in the rom-com “Palm Springs,” which broke Sundance Film Festival records when it sold for $22 million in 2020.
Source: Kevin Hart’s Peacock show “Hart to Heart”
