Actors Who Were Better Off Without Saturday Night Live

The brainchild of producer Lorne Michaels, "Saturday Night Live" has been making audiences laugh weekly since its debut in 1975. With an eye for comedic genius, Michaels has also been responsible for launching the careers of countless comedians, from Dan Aykroyd to Kristen Wiig and beyond. But even for those actors who went on to become enormous stars, their time on "SNL" was often marked by controversy and personal struggle, as the pressures of a weekly, live sketch comedy series often pushed its talent to their limits.

Many stars who came up through "SNL" would count their years on the show as the best in their career, but others may view it a little differently. Thanks to their booming success after leaving, they might even be grateful to have left the roster of "Not Ready for Prime Time Players," and be able to put their tough times behind them. There are still other stars who once auditioned for the show but were rejected, yet found success all the same. Though few probably regret their time on "Saturday Night Live," and others may still lament not making the cut, we've found more than a few big Hollywood stars who've been better off without it.

In the 1990s there was no bigger comic star than Jim Carrey, who had a run of unparalleled success with box office hits "The Mask," "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective," and "Dumb and Dumber" all landing the same year. He'd come to fame off the back of a lengthy run in the envelope-pushing sketch comedy series, "In Living Color," where he'd established iconic characters like Fire Marshall Bill and Vera DeMilo. His mastery of physical comedy was unmatched, and he parlayed his part in the series into blockbuster big-screen success. But it almost didn't happen.

The year was 1980, and "Saturday Night Live" was losing its star cast. Lorne Michaels was leaving the show, and a number of aspiring comedians were trying out for a chance to join the hit sketch comedy show. Among the many that tried out for a part in a revamped "SNL" lineup was Carrey, a young comedian with a penchant for slapstick and a rubbery face that he could contort into just about any shape.

Even though his audition failed to impress, he was probably better off because in the mid-'80s "SNL" was a disaster, and would never have allowed him to do the kinds of crazy characters that made him famous on "In Living Color." Ultimately Carrey didn't need "SNL" to be a star. Instead, he made other TV shows and movies famous with his wildly raucous performances.

Consisting of Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, Bruce McCulloch, and Scott Thompson, The Kids in the Hall remain some of the best comedians to ever come out of Canada. But what many might not know is that "Saturday Night Live" almost ended their career before it began. Because in 1985, Lorne Michaels picked "Kids in the Hall" actors, McKinney and McCulloch, as writers on the revamped "SNL" after seeing their success on the Canadian comedy circuit.

In "This is a Book About the Kids in the Hall" (via Yahoo), McCulloch talked about his brief time on the show: "I thought I'd find all these amazing voices, the most amazing comedians of a generation ... And they were all funny. But they weren't 'The Kids in the Hall.' They didn't speak the same language as me. They didn't get me. And I didn't really want to be them." He later said in a 2022 Amazon documentary: "I'd always be fighting with them about the weird ideas I wanted to do." McKinney meanwhile was even less gracious, saying bluntly, "It was all awful. Tortuous, agonizing, nerve-wracking, exhausting. But it really wasn't fun."

McCulloch concluded, "Through that process of failing at 'Saturday Night Live,' I realized how much I needed 'The Kids in the Hall.'" An eye-opening experience, their time as writers showed them they didn't need "SNL," and within a few years, they had their own series, turning them into comedy icons. 

Among the biggest stars of "Saturday Night Live" in its history, Adam Sandler made his name thanks to legendary sketches like "Opera Man" and "The Chanukah Song." Starting in 1990 as a writer before starring in front of the camera for several more years, Sandler left the series to become a movie star, cranking out major hits like "Happy Gilmore" and "The Wedding Singer." But all of that success may never have happened because as it turns out, Sandler didn't quit "SNL" — he was fired.

"At the time, I was hurt, because I didn't know what else I was going to do," Sandler told radio host Howard Stern in 2019 (via CNBC). "I was probably sad, covering up the sadness up with being mad." But Sandler didn't stay down for too long and wound up becoming an even bigger star after leaving the show. Today, Sandler is as big as ever thanks to a monster deal with streaming giant Netflix worth more than a quarter of a billion dollars. 

Though he may have lamented the unceremonious dumping from "SNL" when it happened, time has helped him realize he was better off without the show. "Everything turned out great," he admitted while acknowledging that leaving was for the best. "Maybe I would've never left because I'm not good at saying goodbye."

The late, great Gilbert Gottfried may be known for his famous voice, but he's also well-known for some iconic movie roles. This includes voicing Iago in Disney's animated "Aladdin," which made him a favorite of an entire generation of kids, but Gottfried was previously also known for his decidedly edgy adult humor. Starting out as a stand-up comic, and later a frequent guest of radio host and shock jock, Howard Stern, Gottfried was plucked from the underground comedy scene in 1980 to lead an all-new roster on "SNL" after the departure of its entire cast from the year before.

It was a major opportunity for the up-and-coming comic, but as it turns out, his time on the show was an absolute nightmare. Appearing on Joe Rogan's podcast in 2021, Gottfried talked about how he was set up to fail, being part of an incoming cast that was replacing beloved stars like Bill Murray, Jane Curtin, and Dan Aykroyd. "People hated the show before it even got on the air," he told Rogan.

But it wasn't just the stress of being attacked by critics. "I hated the writers, and the writers hated me ... they wrote a funeral sketch where I was the dead body," he said. As Gottfried described it, things eventually got so bad that when he was fired he was simply glad it was over: "I didn't have a great time there at all."

As the creator of "Seinfeld," Larry David can take credit for one of the funniest sitcoms in TV history. But since 2000, he has also written and directed "Curb Your Enthusiasm," where he plays a heavily fictionalized version of himself. More recently, he gained notoriety for playing Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in "Saturday Night Live," but believe it or not, his association with the show actually goes back to the '80s.

Hired as a staff writer in 1984, David found his time creating sketches for the show maddening. "They weren't putting any of my sketches on the air," David told Vanity Fair in 2017. "I was getting increasingly frustrated. The sketches would get cut. I only had one sketch on the entire year." Furious that none of his work was being used, David cursed out his boss, Dick Ebersol, and quit the show in a huff, only to realize he'd just thrown away the first steady paycheck he'd had in years.

After commiserating with his good friend, Kenny Kramer, David knew he'd made a mistake, and simply went back to work the next day. He'd leave the show for real after the year was up, and turn his infamous quitting incident into an episode of "Seinfeld" years later.

During his time on "Saturday Night Live" from 2005 to 2013, Bill Hader earned a few Emmy Award nominations. A fan favorite, Hader became well known for his hysterically funny characters including flamboyant Stefon Meyers, Italian talk show host Vinny Vedecci, and spot-on impressions of everyone from Keith Morrison and Vincent Price to political commentator James Carville. After departing the series, his talent only expanded, as Hader created and starred in the critically acclaimed dark comedy, "Barry," on HBO.

In an interview with the Daily Beast in 2019, though, Hader admitted that his years on "Saturday Night Live" weren't always pleasant, inducing chronic stress and panic attacks. He even admitted that things often got so bad that he could barely make it to work, due to the pressure of living up to the talented actors around him. Hader, who had long suffered from anxiety, eventually channeled his most painful days into "Barry," the story of a hitman struggling with PTSD who turns to acting as an escape. 

While his years on "SNL" created turmoil, though, Hader turned them into an even bigger career after he departed. As the creator and star of "Barry," he's won a pair of Emmys for his performance, two of nine that the series has taken home to date ... and we'd wager he's not done taking home trophies just yet.