Here's Why These Stars Left Saturday Night Live

Lots of legendary people have graced the stage of "Saturday Night Live." Some have been part of the show as hosts, like Tom Hanks, Emma Stone, Steve Martin, and even Michael Jordan. Others have been musical guests, like Elton John, Tina Turner, Bob Dylan, and Timothée Chalamet singing Bob Dylan's songs. But perhaps the most legendary of all the "SNL" figures have been the regular cast members. Stars like Billy Crystal, Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers, and more have all gotten the chance to pronounce "Live from New York, it's Saturday night" on at least one occasion, and many of the former cast members have gone on to have incredibly successful careers in the entertainment industry.

But no "Saturday Night Live" regular has stayed at the show forever (aside from Kenan Thompson, who has revealed just how long he hopes to be an "SNL" cast member). Everyone who's worked at Studio 8H has said goodbye to the series eventually, with some departures proving to be more heartbreaking and dramatic than others. Take a look at why some stars left "Saturday Night Live."

Eddie Murphy wasn't on "Saturday Night Live" for a tremendous amount of time, but his impact while there was deep. Murphy is still cited by many as one of the greatest cast members in the show's history, and he's credited with saving the show at a time when it would have otherwise been cancelled. "It would have been very difficult, I think, to have kept the show on the air without Eddie. The show would absolutely would have launched for the 1983-84 season, but he was still the main draw. And it would have been pretty hard, I think, to keep up the show long enough to get to the next year," former "SNL" showrunner Dick Ebersol said in the book "Live From New York," as reported by The Wrap.

But all good things must come to an end, and Murphy didn't stay on "SNL" for very long. The actor left after the 1984 season to pursue a movie career, and it ended up being the right decision for the comedian. While Murphy will always be known for his time on "SNL," he's arguably more famous for his work in films like "The Nutty Professor," the "Beverly Hills Cop" series, the "Shrek" series, and "Coming to America" and its sequel. Murphy (who later took six years off from acting) also received something in his time after "SNL" that only a few other cast members have to their name — an Oscar nomination.

Adam Sandler is another "Saturday Night Live" alumnus whose time on the show, though revered, is but a single credit in a storied Hollywood career. Sandler's filmography is full of hit after hit, and they were almost all released after he had parted ways with the sketch comedy series. But the departure wasn't necessarily what Sandler wanted at the time. He left at the same time as his good friend, the late Chris Farley, and rumors swirled that the two were fired. The truth about Sandler and Farley's exits remained a mystery for years, but in 2023, Sandler provided some clarity. "It was kind of like them asking us to quit. There were new people at the network, and apparently they didn't like me and Chris, so they kind of said goodbye to us in a nice way. Lorne was great to us, he wanted to protect us," Sandler told The Hollywood Reporter.

Despite Sandler's exit, he remained a friend of the show. The actor returned for various cameo appearances and even hosted an episode in 2019. Sandler was also in attendance for the 40th and 50th anniversary specials, joining fellow former cast member Andy Samberg for a "Digital Short" for the 40th anniversary and singing his own tribute to the show and its cast members for the 50th anniversary.

The stunning Tina Fey is a "Saturday Night Live" legend, and she has been for decades. In 1999, Fey was asked by Lorne Michaels to be the show's head writer, making her the first woman to ever hold the position. She went on to host "Weekend Update" with both Jimmy Fallon and Amy Poehler, cementing herself as one of the greatest "SNL" cast members of all time. In 2006, Fey announced that she was leaving "SNL" to pursue something new — her own show. "This is the big leap I'm making, it's a show about working at a late-night comedy show. I'm very creative," Fey quipped when announcing her "SNL" departure on an episode of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," as reported by CBS News. The show she was referring to, of course, was "30 Rock," a series that won Fey the majority of her Emmy Awards and is still considered one of the best sitcoms of all time.

While the career move was certainly good for Fey, not everyone was pleased with her departure. "If you're asking if I'm happy about it, no. Tina disappearing is a huge hole in the writing staff," Lorne Michaels said ahead of Fey's exit. Michaels couldn't have been too upset, though, as he served as an executive producer for "30 Rock" and managed to get Fey back on "SNL" plenty of times. Fey returned to the show to impersonate Sarah Palin during the 2008 presidential election, and she's become a member of the Five Timers Club for her hosting duties.

Will Ferrell's time at "Saturday Night Live" was marked by iconic skits like "More Cowbell," unforgettable characters like Marty Culp, and hilarious impressions like George W. Bush. While he was there, the actor also started building a career outside of NBC, taking roles in feature films and adding to his voiceover resume. Eventually, Ferrell felt like it was time for him to take a leap and leave "SNL." "I was creeping up on my seventh season, and it was just feeling like, for better or for worse, a good time to go. It was a mix of scary and 'No, this is the right time.' I don't know why. Because there really wasn't a pile of scripts waiting for me. It was more like, 'I'm doing well from the show. I'm pretty well-known. Let's use this momentum to try,'" Ferrell told the Wall Street Journal of his decision to leave.

Ferrell was right about the momentum he'd built. He found incredible success acting in 2000s comedy films like "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," "Blades of Glory," and the "Anchorman" films. Ferrell remained relevant in the 2020s, even finding a role in the biggest film of 2023, "Barbie," and he's proven himself to be one of the most successful former "SNL" cast members of all time.

It's a common theme for "Saturday Night Live" stars to leave to pursue a movie career. Many cast members, especially the big names, get offered parts in other projects while they're still at "SNL," but eventually they leave to focus on the outside work. Such was Jimmy Fallon's aim when he left the show in 2004. The former "Weekend Update" host announced his departure on air, saying, "This is my last show. Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow," at the end of the segment during the 2003-2004 season finale, as reported by Entertainment Weekly.

But the movie industry didn't prove as fruitful for Fallon as it had for other stars who'd left in the past, like Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, and Will Ferrell. While the comedian did find roles in films like "Fever Pitch" and "Whip It," Fallon's movie career didn't quite take off like he might've hoped, and he had to pivot. But at the right time, Fallon got a call from an old friend. When the star was leaving "SNL," Lorne Michaels asked Fallon if he'd ever be interested in hosting a late-night show. As Fallon explained to "Today," he was initially on the fence. However, in the late 2000s, Michaels asked Fallon again if he was interested, that time with a serious offer. Fallon ended up taking over "Late Night" on NBC until 2014 when he started hosting "The Tonight Show."

Few "Saturday Night Live" stars have had as many iconic characters as Kristen Wiig. While on the show, the comedian debuted and reprised characters like Dooneese, Gilly, Penelope, Target Lady, and more, becoming one of the most revered "SNL" stars in the process. Wiig left the show in 2012, and the timing of her decision was something that she had anticipated for years. "I know a lot of people probably assume, 'Oh, she's leaving because she is going to be doing movies now and things like that,' which I will be," Wiig said of her departure in an interview with Marie Claire. "But I just always knew it was going to be seven and that was it. I think maybe if I were 22, I could see myself staying a little bit, but it just felt like the right time."

Wiig was right about what she'd be doing when she left — making movies. The comedic actor had some major credits to her name ahead of her "SNL" exit, including "Bridesmaids" (which she co-wrote and earned an Oscar nomination for) and "Despicable Me," and she only continued finding work in successful projects after. Wiig has since appeared in projects like "Her," "Sausage Party," "Ghostbusters," and "Palm Royale," the last of which she earned her two Emmy nominations.

There are several reasons why most "Saturday Night Live" cast members don't stay at the series for too long, but chief among them is the grueling schedule. As many alumni can attest, working at "SNL" takes a major toll due to repeated late nights and working conditions that don't exactly lend themselves to good health. At some point, most cast members have to bow out. Kate McKinnon did exactly that in 2022 after 10 years on the show. "All I ever wanted to do in my whole life was be on 'Saturday Night Live.' And 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," McKinnon said on an episode of "Live!" after her departure, noting that it was a difficult decision.

McKinnon's time on "SNL" was marked by skits that still crack us up, as well as characters and impressions that have gone down in the show's history as some of the best. She also has a couple of Emmy Award wins under her belt. In her post-"SNL" career, McKinnon has remained busy acting in multiple projects, most notably playing Weird Barbie in the 2023 Oscar-winning blockbuster, "Barbie." McKinnon has also returned to host "SNL" and make some cameo appearances, but it's still unknown whether she watches the series regularly. Immediately after her exit, McKinnon wasn't sure she could. "I don't know what I will do. 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," she said.

Andy Samberg is another former "SNL" cast member who's been open about the realities of the show's demands. Samberg was part of the cast from 2005 to 2012, and he left when being on the show impacted his health too greatly. "For me, it was like I can't actually endure it anymore. Physically and emotionally. I was falling apart in my life," Samberg said to Kevin Hart on the series "Hart to Heart," as reported by Deadline. "I got to a place where I hadn't slept in seven years ... I just kind of fell apart physically," he said. In talking to other cast members, Samberg realized that he wasn't alone in feeling beat up. "Everyone was like, 'Oh, yes, yes. This is just what happens.' Like, you hit a wall. We're not built to operate that way."

Samberg might have been a bit more tired than the rest of his cast members, though. In addition to being part of the live show, Samberg, along with Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer (the three of whom make up the comedy trio The Lonely Island), was responsible for pushing out a "Digital Short" for each episode. Though a lot to handle, Samberg's contributions did not go unnoticed. The "Digital Short" has been credited in keeping "SNL" relevant in the digital age, and it's given Samberg and his Lonely Island partners work after the fact. The trio, along with Seth Meyers, started "The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast" in which they review each "Digital Short" they made while on "SNL."

Only a select few people in show business can say they've been a cast member on "Saturday Night Live," and even fewer have had the honor of being part of the inaugural cast. Perhaps the most notorious cast member from the first season is Chevy Chase, an Emmy-winning comedian whose career has since been defined by classic comedies like "Caddyshack," "Three Amigos!", and the "Vacation" films, as well as his stint in the hit sitcom "Community." Prior to that, though, Chase was making millions of people laugh every week on "SNL" and making a name for himself thanks to his duty as "Weekend Update" host.

Chase left "SNL" early in the second season. While many over the years have assumed it was to become a movie star, Chase had another reason to exit the show: love. "I left because I was stricken with a girl from L.A. that I met, and in fact married, but for only a couple of years," Chase said to Willie Geist in an interview for "Morning Joe," talking about his ex-wife, Jacqueline Carlin. And it wasn't necessarily a decision that made him happy. "It was strange because I missed it right away. And I still miss it," Chase added. "I loved that show, I loved being with Lorne and the cast –- quite a funny cast: Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Garrett Morris, Gilda [Radner], Laraine [Newman] and Jane [Curtin]. You know, that was a great group of people. So I missed them, too."

Julia Louis-Dreyfus was so successful after she left "Saturday Night Live" that it's almost hard to remember she was on the sketch comedy show. Louis-Dreyfus went on to be the queen of television, starring in "Seinfeld," "The New Adventures of Old Christine," and "Veep," all of which she won at least one Emmy Award for. But Louis-Dreyfus was most certainly on "Saturday Night Live." She was a cast member from 1982 to 1985, and as Louis-Dreyfus has stated, her "SNL" run was brutal but taught her an important showbiz lesson. In a live question and answer session with Stephen Colbert at the "Evening With Stephen Colbert" fundraiser, the comedian gave some insight to her experience at the sketch comedy show. "I was unbelievably naive and I didn't really understand how the dynamics of the place worked. It was very sexist, very sexist," she said, as reported by People, adding that many of her co-workers were on drugs, too.

Louis-Dreyfus decided that she wasn't going to continue working in an environment that didn't make her happy. "I learned I wasn't going to do anymore of this show business crap unless it was fun. I don't have to walk and crawl through this kind of nasty glass if it's not ultimately going to be fulfilling, and so that's how I sort of moved forward from that moment," she said. "SNL" wasn't all bad for Louis-Dreyfus, though. She met Larry David, whom she went on to work with at "Seinfeld," while on "SNL," and she's since returned multiple times to host the show.

Every now and again, "Saturday Night Live" stars leave the show and get to star in their own series. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler both left "SNL" to star in their own sitcoms, as did Andy Samberg. Before any of those "SNL" stars left, though, Tracy Morgan exited the show to star in his own series, "The Tracy Morgan Show." Morgan was excited for viewers to see the show. "This character gets to show people in the public that I'm a dad. They get to see the struggle. I grew up in a broken home, so this is what it would have been like if my dad would have stayed with my mom. This is what I wanted to see and I'm proud of it," Morgan said of the series, as reported by Backstage.

Unfortunately for Morgan, the eponymous sitcom didn't take off. It only ran for one season before cancellation. But Morgan's career was far from over. The "SNL" alum went on to join Fey in the cast of "30 Rock." The sitcom proved to be a career-defining role for Morgan, earning him an Emmy nomination in the process.