Cheri Oteri reflects on her time at 'Saturday Night Live' during the SNL 50 red carpet, calling herself lucky to have been part of the show's legendary legacy. She shares stories about her Barbara Walters and Snoop Dogg sketch, her admiration for Jim Carrey finally getting to host after being rejected as a cast member and the tough reality of SNL cast members having to write their own sketches. Plus, she reveals a hilarious character she couldn't get into a full sketch—but snuck onto Weekend Update!
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00:0050 years of SNL. What do you think of when you think about the legacy of this show?
00:08That just how lucky I was to be a part of it
00:12When you think about your time and your tenure on the show
00:15Is there a particular sketch that comes to mind that maybe you thought?
00:20Wouldn't land and it did or maybe the opposite you thought it was it is gonna land and then
00:25a
00:27Sketch I did Barbara Walters interviewing Snoop Dogg and this is when Snoop Dogg first got came out
00:33You know like was on the scene, so we didn't know how sweet he could be or anything
00:38he was like a hardcore rapper, so I had to have Barbara interviewing him and
00:44It ended up going better than I could have imagined I
00:49Love that was there a standout host for you. You're like wow I'd like really
00:55This person really stuck out to me. I was like being a really memorable host
00:59I'd have to say Jim Carrey. I mean
01:02Just because I was so happy for him because it meant so much to him to do the show cuz she he had auditioned
01:09back in the day and
01:12When you you know and he always wanted to be on it, and I'm like you're it's way healthier to be hosting it and
01:19And I was just so happy that he did such a great job
01:22You say it's way healthier to be hosting it than being a part of it, why do you think
01:27It's it's a tough gig
01:29You know it's a really tough gig, but he's somewhat familiar with that because of in living color, but um
01:37Yeah, I always thought of people
01:39who
01:40didn't get on who did audition and then later ended up hosting and it's like wow where
01:46one door closes
01:48you know another one opens and
01:50Yeah
01:52Yeah, what's one part of being on SNL that people don't truly understand or maybe realize unless you're actually
02:00Doing it and going through the motions up how many of the actors have to write I?
02:04Mean we have writers, but they don't have to write for you. They write what they want and then they cast you know but
02:11the writers I mean the actors are a
02:15Lot of actors are writing to get on the show, and they're almost competing with other writers
02:22you know
02:24and
02:25That's hard. You know you have a this sea of great writers, and you know
02:32They don't have to write you know for you, but um you know but everybody hooks up with somebody and
02:39I would had was lucky to write a lot with that Matt people on and
02:45and
02:47that was I
02:49was
02:50like Gilda had out Alan's why Bell and
02:55There's people that you just and we and Matt, and I wrote really well together
02:59And I knew I was lucky to have somebody that would write with me who was who was so talented
03:05And was there a sketch or maybe a character that you workshop that you're like dang it
03:10I wish that that kind of made it on air, and it maybe didn't
03:15Well yes, but I got her on update
03:20It was a joy Lipton and
03:23She owned the erotic attic in Manhattan, and so I couldn't get her on the show, but I got her on update
03:34You