Bowen Yang: "Saturday Night Live"

Bowen Yang had an opportunity to write a sequel to his great skit, "The Actress," but he said no. He bluntly said that SNL "sequel" skits offer diminishing returns; he wouldn't chip away at his own achievement.

Here's "The Actress." A woman is frustrated with her career, playing "stick figures with shallow lives." Then: "Life comes knocking--with a challenge."

This woman is hired to play "Wife Who Gets Cheated On During Gay Porn Film." She struggles with her elusive director, her eccentric props manager ("the bits and pieces of a life, the single Ugg boot, the pack of batteries")....She slips on spilled lube. Through it all, her tenaciousness is a guiding light. She keeps asking questions, proposing rewrites, and finally, against all odds, she triumphs.

Yang writes so well, it's not fair. I especially like the K-Y on the steering wheel, the attempt to "brighten up our kitchen," and the reference to "a cart of woman stuff" in the wings. But--also--Yang has an extraordinary colleague here. It's Emma Stone, who finds a way to cry real tears at the end.

I'm just tipping my hat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HVH_I04ZrM

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