Saturday Night Live star Kate McKinnon faced heartbreak in her mid-teens when her dad died of brain cancer in 2002 and later made a career dream come true 10 years later.
The TV star has rarely spoken about her dad, Michael Thomas Berthold, or about her personal life in general. She has stated in past interviews her desire to focus on her career and nothing else when talking to the press. However, we do know about the Hollywood star’s dad and his link to her scoring the gig on SNL, and it’s heartbreaking.
Kate McKinnon used to watch Saturday Night Live with her dad
Kate McKinnon called SNL her “only dream” in an interview with Glamour. Her family loved comedy and she was introduced to it by her dad, who tragically died years before his daughter made it onto the series. She became one of the longest-serving cast member of the show (she was on the series for 10 years between 2012 and 2022).
Appearing on Late Night With Seth Meyers, the celebrity talked about being the host of the show for the first time in a December episode last year and said that she wasn’t nervous.
She told Seth: “It’s something I always wanted to do. The dream was to be on the show, and the exponential dream was to host the show – which is like, beyond the imagination.”
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Why did she leave SNL?
Despite calling S/NL her “dream” after her late dad introduced her to the comedy show, the movie actress left in 2022. She explained the reason for her departure, saying she was “tired.”
Talking on Live with Kelly and Ryan, the 40-year-old said she felt like her time to leave had come, even though coming to the decision was “hard.”
“I thought about it for a very long time, and it was very, very hard,” said the Barbie star. “All I ever wanted to do in my whole life was be on Saturday Night Live. So, I did, I loved it, I had the best decade, and then I was just like, my body was tired, and I felt like it was time.”
Kate was then asked if she would watch future airings of the show, and she seemed unsure.
“I don’t know what I will do,” she said. “I don’t know that I can watch the show yet because it’s too emo because I miss everyone so much. It’s my family.
“It’s too emo. So, I think I’m just going to take ‘The Bachelorette’ and watch it.’”
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