Bowen Yang Never Felt ‘That Central’ to the Cast During His Time on ‘SNL’: ‘I Was the Seasoning’

Bowen Yang recently opened up about his time on Saturday Night Live, and he admitted that he never felt like a main cast member.

“Well, I feel like there was a weird utility to me. I was like, ‘OK, I’ve accepted this.’ I never played the dad or the straight-man teacher. I was always there as the seasoning,” Yang, 35, said during Variety‘s Actors on Actors discussion published on Monday, June 8.

The Wicked: For Good actor left SNL midway through season 51 in 2025 after seven seasons. However, he said he had a pretty good idea about his plan to exit beforehand.

“I was kind of resolute the season before, about leaving. There was a lot of uncertainty about what the show would look like after season 50,” Yang continued. “I was like, ‘I think the show is in a great place without me.’ I never felt like I was that central to it, to be honest.”

While fans were shocked at his exit, the Australia native has previously said there was no behind-the-scenes drama that led to his farewell.

“This is honestly what’s behind it: It’s time,” Yang explained during a January episode of his Las Culturistas podcast.

He added that the “current media landscape” is so “turbulent” that he doesn’t fault people for deciding to stay on the show as long as they can or for others who decide to leave earlier than expected.

Yang continued, “I have this very beautiful thing where I get to say that I stayed on exactly as long as I wanted to.”