Entertainment

Is this the end of SNL’s Kristen Wiig era?

Taylor Bigler Entertainment Editor
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Rumors of Kristen Wiig’s departure from “Saturday Night Live” have been circling ever since “Bridesmaids,” which she co-wrote and acted in, became a critical and box office smash last year.

In what would be a huge loss for the “Saturday Night Live” cast, Wiig gave an eerily ambiguous answer about whether or not her time on SNL is up on Alec Baldwin’s podcast Monday.

“I don’t know,” Wiig said after Baldwin asked if her time on SNL was “winding down.” “Everyone has to leave … and I will say that when I do leave, it’s not because I’m sick of it and not because I see something better or anything like that. It’s just that it’s time. When I do leave, it will be the hardest thing.”

Wiig is one of the show’s biggest assets, along with Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis and Seth Meyers. Wiig has a number of popular recurring characters and is heavily featured during each episode. While the show’s ratings have ebbed and flowed and its critics have cheered and booed, Wiig has always been noted as one of the its main attractions.

But now that she has been noticed outside of Studio 6H, it could be in Wiig’s best interest to end her seven-year run at SNL.

After her wildly successful turn with “Bridesmaids” — which earned her an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay — Wiig is in high demand. She is already working on a new screenplay and has six films coming out within the next two years, according to the Internet Movie Database.

Vulture noted that most SNL success stories happen when a standout player leaves the show after seven or eight seasons. Will Ferrell, Mike Myers and Dana Carvey all did seven seasons, while Phil Hartman and Amy Poehler did eight seasons each. Tina Fey did six seasons in front of the camera, but even more in the writing room. All enjoyed extremely successful careers beyond SNL in movies and TV, though Hartman’s promising career was cut short when he was murdered by his drug-addicted wife.

So if this really is the end of the Kristen Wiig era, what will become of her?

Baldwin sarcastically suggested that “[leaving] is a really ballsy move on your part because who the F is going to hire you?”

“I don’t know,” Wiig replied. “I may go back to open up a canoe shop.”

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