Saturday Night Live has added a new face to it’s cast of characters, UCB Theatre L.A. regular Ego Nwodim.
Nwodim boasts an impressive resume, including writing and performing a one-woman show titled “Great Black Women...and Then There’s Me” and being featured on 2016’s JFL New Faces Characters showcase.
Nwodim got some major kudos from the comedy community, with Sarah Silverman tweeting, “Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! AMAZING!! Excellent move on @nbcsnl ‘s part!! Go @eggy_boom !!”
Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! AMAZING!! Excellent move on @nbcsnl ‘s part!! Go @eggy_boom !! https://t.co/SaMg81j1aP
— Sarah Silverman (@SarahKSilverman) September 21, 2018
Here are three facts to get to know Nwodim before next week’s debut:
1. She’s A Renaissance Woman
Before pursuing a career in comedy, Nwodim graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in biology. As she wrote in her biography on UCB L.A.’s website, she soon discovered that “montages, tag-runs and obnoxious but grounded characters [are] far more enjoyable and fulfilling than photosynthesis and Punnett squares.”
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2. She Knows How To Work Through Pain
Nwodim told Box Angels podcast host Mike Elder that she “didn’t miss a day of school from second grade through my senior year of high school,” even when sick, adding, “I went to school, like, dying.”
3. She Got Scammed As A Child
Nwodim told Elder that as a pre-teen she loved performing and wanted to be on the Disney Channel, but didn’t know how to make that happen from Baltimore. She did some Googling and found what she describes as a “scam” and ended up paying $5,000 for a program that claimed to provide a track to Hollywood, but in the end all she got were very expensive headshots.
NBC announced the new cast member on Friday, who will make her SNL debut on next week’s season 44 premiere hosted by Adam Driver and musical guest Kanye West, along with four new writers: Alan Linic, Alison Gates, Eli Mandel, and Bowen Yang.
Nwodim’s debut on SNL premieres September 29 at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.