“Saturday Night Live” has its Emmy-worthy star.
“SNL” featured performer Ashley Padilla has found her groove during the show’s 51st season, emerging as an early and viable contender for this year’s Emmys.
The San Francisco Bay Area native, who honed her comedic skills with The Groundlings Main Stage Company, has emerged as a standout this season despite what many fans consider uneven overall quality. In this past weekend’s “Mom Confession” sketch, Padilla plays a mother preparing for a birthday dinner with her husband (guest host and “Pillion” star Alexander Skarsgard) and their four children (Tommy Brennan, Andrew Dismukes, Sarah Sherman and Jane Wickline). As the family prepares to leave, she delivers a “shocking” confession: “What I have to tell you … is I may have changed my mind … about Trump.”
The sketch offered satirical commentary on America’s divided political landscape, embedded with hard evidence supported by data that showed eroding support for Donald Trump within his base. The season has been handicapped by cast turnover and ill-executed sketches, as Variety chief TV critic Alison Herman has noted. Still, last Saturday night, the “Mom Confession” sketch became the undeniable best moment of the season so far.
In three days, garnering over 2.3 million views on YouTube, it became another stellar talking point for Padilla’s killer sophomore season as a featured player. She’s proven herself to be a chameleon, elevating both her own performances and those of her castmates. Her “Weekend Update” character, “Two People Who Just Hooked Up” with Dismukes, has become a recurring favorite. At the same time, her turn as the farting boss during Sabrina Carpenter’s hosting episode drew widespread laughs.
The 32-year-old comedian has been this jack-of-all-trades type of performer, feeling like a second coming of former “SNL” cast member Jane Curtin, fused with the physical DNA of Laura Linney and Margaret Colin, and looks like she could be the long-lost American sister of Carey Mulligan. This type of range has made her a perfect fit for various sketches, able to play both young and old, funny and straight, and dynamic and talented.
Now in her second season, she appears poised to fill the void left by Kate McKinnon’s 2022 departure, even having a breakout similar to that of past greats like Amy Poehler in her early beginnings.
If nominated for supporting comedy actress, she would make history as the first female featured player to receive such recognition — and the eighth woman overall from the cast to be nominated. Previous female nominees include Poehler (2008, 2009), Kristen Wiig (2009-2012), Kate McKinnon (2014-2022), Vanessa Bayer (2017), Leslie Jones (2017-2018), Aidy Bryant (2018, 2021) and Cecily Strong (2021).
In 2021, Bowen Yang — who departed midseason during the Ariana Grande-hosted episode before the holiday break last December — was the first, and still only, featured player to be nominated for an Emmy. He picked up three additional nominations after his promotion to the main cast, with last year’s fourth nomination making him the most-nominated Asian male performer in Emmys history.
Padilla’s rise comes amid significant cast upheaval. Lorne Michaels bid farewell to Michael Longfellow, Heidi Gardner, Devon Walker and Emil Wakim over the summer, followed by veteran Ego Nwodim’s shocking departure — leaving the cast without a Black woman (an issue that still demands addressing). And, of course, the shocking departure of Yang. Padilla appears best-positioned to help guide “SNL” back to its glory days. Last year’s celebrated 50th season earned seven Emmy nominations — separate from “SNL 50: The Anniversary Special” and “SNL 50: The Homecoming Concert” — marking its least-nominated season since 2015 and the first since 2008 to fail to garner any guest acting nominations for its hosts. Yang was the sole acting nomination from the main cast in the supporting comedy actor category.
There have been 25 cast members who have received individual Primetime Emmy nominations throughout the show’s history, mainly in the now-discontinued category of individual performance in a variety or music program. Since then, nominations have come in the supporting actor and actress categories for comedy series. Of 54 total nominations for these performers, four have won: Chevy Chase (1976), Gilda Radner (1978), Dana Carvey (1993) and Kate McKinnon (2016, 2017). Alec Baldwin received two Emmy nominations for his recurring guest role as Donald Trump, winning once in 2017.
There could be an opportunity for Padilla to join the ranks soon enough.
This week’s episode will be hosted by “Heated Rivalry” star Connor Storrie.
