It’s a cool Thursday morning in New York City when Ashley Padilla joins our Zoom call, appearing on-screen in a cozy heather gray quarter zip, her freshly bobbed auburn hair tucked neatly behind her ears. There are just over 48 hours to go before she and the rest of the Saturday Night Live cast film the November 16 episode, hosted by Glen Powell.
Padilla, 32, is a featured player on SNL, and still something of a rookie, having just kicked off her second season. So when I clock the cylinder she’s clutching against her palm with her thumb, I assume it’s a vape pen, a discreet outlet for a comedian working one of the most notoriously demanding jobs in the industry. When she gesticulates, which is often, I catch flashes of the tube, a blur of gray plastic in motion.
Twenty minutes have passed, however, when I realize it’s not a vape at all.
“Are you holding a…Rhode lip balm?” I ask.
She looks at her hand as though to see for herself. “Oh, my God, I am,” she says, laughing. Her cheerful sitcom-mom smile fills the screen as she explains her codependent relationship with the stuff. “I do this even at table [reads],” she says. “I do it on Zooms. I found out later, people were like, ‘Are you vaping?’”
When I confess that I, too, mistook the lip balm for a vape, she feigns disgust at the idea. “I need to throw this thing across the room!” she yells in her soon-to-be-signature warble. “I just thought of all the meetings I’ve done on Zoom, and people [must be] like, ‘Yeah, she hits a vape.’”
With mock seriousness, she sits up a little straighter and looks at the camera: “Everyone,” she says, using the same quasi-professional tone she’ll later deploy while parodying White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt during the show’s cold open, “It is Rhode lip balm, and it’s addicting.”
Padilla joined the cast of Saturday Night Live as a featured player during season 50, alongside newcomers Emil Wakim (who was let go after one season) and Jane Wickline. Four episodes into season 51, however, and it was clear that Padilla was more than capable of stepping into the spotlight after several season 50 departures. Two sketches in particular, “Surprise” and “Two People Who Just Hooked Up Discuss the Government Shutdown,” have earned her particular praise, with Vanity Fair’s Chris Murphy remarking that Padilla’s “everywoman exterior conceals the beating heart of a freak.” (In comedy, that’s praise of the highest caliber.)
She came to SNL via The Groundlings in Los Angeles—the same comedy troupe that churned out legends like Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, and Melissa McCarthy. However, that’s where her backstory diverges from the many comics who prepare their whole lives for an opportunity like SNL. Padilla was never a theater kid, and she didn’t attend college. To make ends meet, she worked at Sephora for several years while taking classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade (another SNL breeder). Then she landed a gig that’s so LA it almost reads like a punchline: She became Diane Keaton’s personal assistant.
“Diane changed my life, 100%,” Padilla says of working with the late great actor, with whom she cowrote the book Fashion First. “She was just the coolest person in the world,” Padilla adds.
So how did she get here? And what’s next? Below, Padilla opens up to Glamour about her path to Saturday Night Live, how her favorite sketches came together, her time with Keaton, and what’s next.
Glamour: I’m a long time SNL watcher, and I saw “Surprise,” the fart sketch, and I was like, “We have to interview her.”
Ashley Padilla: Oh, my God, I love that that’s the sketch that got me to talk to you. I feel so seen. Thank you.
How are you doing? How is this season going so far compared to your first season?
It’s so much different because my first season was obviously the 50th milestone, so it was a lot of cameos, a lot of comedy giants there all the time. One time Heidi [Gardner] leaned over to me at the table read and was like, “This is not normal.”
And I get it now. I’m like, “Oh, yeah, that wasn’t normal.” Now I feel like, “Oh, this is what it’s like here. This is what a season is like.” So it almost feels like I’m new too, in a weird way. I was a fly on the wall for the 50th. I got to see how it all worked, and now I’m like, “Okay, I know how this works. Now I want to try stuff.”
Was there anyone that you were starstruck to meet at the 50th?
Kristen Wiig was a huge one for me, and she was so sweet. She was like, “Just remember to have fun.” And that is sort of what I try to live by, so when she said that I was like, “Oh, my God. Okay, good.” It just justified that thought for me.
With both Heidi and Ego leaving, there’s only two full-time female cast members, Chloe Fineman and Sarah Sherman. Did you and the other featured players feel added pressure to step up?
Ego and Heidi, regardless of being women, they’re just incredible. And I think they set the bar when I was there. I was just so amazed by them, and the women now are so amazing too.
We had this problem with The Groundlings—there just weren’t that many women. I don’t know what it is about sketch comedy, but I just love female comedians, so I’ll take as many of them as I can get.
You’ve been in some really great sketches over the past couple episodes. Do you have a favorite?
“Fart” was my favorite. How sad we’re calling it “Fart” in your beautiful magazine. But the fart one, that one I loved because my friends were having fun in it.
When you get a sketch on the show, you can’t believe it because there’s only so much time, and then other people’s great stuff maybe didn’t make it. So when everyone’s having a good time, that always sticks out to me as a memory. Or someone breaking, like Ben Marshall. It just really brings me joy to watch my brother just try not to laugh.
How did that one come together?
I do a lot of fart humor, which is horrible, but it makes me laugh, and I like someone taking it seriously.
Where are you drawing your inspiration as a writer?
I definitely pull from behavior more than premise. I’m not going, “A fart is funny.” I’m going, “God, someone who takes something very seriously is really funny.” And then you add in something stupid, and it’s that juxtaposition. It’s those two things of what would happen if someone who’s very serious farted in front of everyone?
I love behavior because I love people. I love figuring out, why are we this way? Why is that making me sad? Why is that making me happy? And then figuring out where to put that person. Take the happy, happy person and put them in a really sad environment where they shouldn’t be acting like that. I like puzzling that together.
There was just something about it, I think mostly in the extended like, “oooh’s,” that just really clinched it for me.
You know what’s so funny? That wasn’t the plan, to stay there for that long.
I think the audience helped with that one a little bit because they were enjoying it. So then I was like, “Okay. They don’t hate me? Great, let’s try this.” So that was a fun surprise for me too, just having fun with a live audience.
I’ve noticed that Andrew Dismukes is a frequent scene partner of yours. What is your guys’ working relationship like? Is that just a coincidence, or do you work really closely together?
It’s funny, we’ve only written together once with the “the couple that just hooked up.” We never really write together, so it’s been this organic thing where we get paired together a lot. And now I’m like, “Andrew, I have an idea.” I’m annoying because I just think he’s so funny. His sense of humor is exactly what I think is funny. I think it’s just naturally become…we’re the mom and dad in everything. I love it. It’s so fun.
When the “Two People Who Just Hooked Up” sketch went live on the SNL Instagram, all the comments were like, “Their chemistry is so good.” I was reading a Vanity Fair piece that said fans were beginning to ship you guys. What do you think of that?
I just learned what that was. Shipping. I mean, hey, I think that’s hilarious. I’m like, “Then we did our job.” Do you know what I mean? You’re like, “Great.”
The chemistry was chemistry-ing.
That is so funny. It’s because he is the funniest person on the planet. His long linger after he says, “Would you prefer something smaller?” is just ingrained in my mind.
Tell me about your childhood. Where did you grow up, and what were you like as a kid?
I grew up in Oakland, California, and then we moved to Livermore, California, a small little town. My mother—an incredible single mom of four kids—just hustled.
I did not do very well in school. And then I went to community college for one week , and I was like, “I can’t do this anymore.” I couldn’t get it. I didn’t know what I was doing there. So I went to work at Sephora at 17, and I did makeup and hair. That got me through for a long time, making money, doing weddings and stuff and working with my sister. We would do hair and makeup for events. And my mom was like, “You’re really funny. You should go try to be funny.” I’m like, “How do you do that?”
She googled “comedy class.” There Upright Citizens Brigade pops up, and it was in LA. I went and moved there when I was 20. I lived in a friend’s living room on her floor and just went and did comedy classes. And I finally understood. I was like, “This is the language I speak. This is how I might understand things, through comedy.” Those classes helped so much.
A boyfriend of mine’s roommate said, “Well, if you like that, you should try The Groundlings.” And I didn’t even know what The Groundlings was. It changed my life. The Groundlings is my college. It’s like SNL bootcamp. It’s just non-stop material and writing. Writing is everything. And learning to write for yourself is what taught me there.
So you weren’t a theater kid or anything growing up?
No, and I keep learning that this was a thing. Friends are like, “Oh, yeah, I did the play and blah, blah, blah.” I wish I had the self-awareness to know what I was good at back then, but I didn’t. I mean, I was always funny and annoying, but that was not seen as a skill yet.
Do you ever see yourself pursuing something outside of comedy, maybe drama, or perhaps writing more? Where do you want to be in 10 years?
I always say this, and maybe people disagree with it, but I feel like I’m a writer first. I love writing. This summer, I just hid away in my office and wrote a script, and I loved getting it out. But I’m also aware of the fact that once it’s written, what brings it to life is great actors and great chemistry and ensemble. I want to experience all of those aspects. I want to make one of my movies I’ve written, and I want to bring people together.
I’ve never done a long movie, and I would love to experience it. Adam Sandler is a great example of comedians who do [more serious] movies. That’s very cool to me, and vulnerable and scary, and I think I do want to do that eventually.
Tell me about this script that you wrote over the summer.
It’s a horror comedy, and I needed to get it out of my system. I’m still working it out. I’ll say this, I wanted to write something where it’s women being very funny, their motivation is money and work and success, and it has nothing to do with a relationship. You know what I mean? It just has nothing to do with men.
I want to talk about your hair really quickly because-
Oh, my God, you’re like, “I don’t like it.”
No, actually it’s the little tucked bob that I’ve always dreamed of.
Really?
Yeah, it’s very chic. But you had long hair before, right?
I did, yes.
So it was a big chop. What inspired it?
I have wanted it again for a long time. I shaved my head in the pandemic. I was trying to do a pixie, and I had never used a buzzer in my life. I bought one, and I didn’t know that there were different settings. It was set at “one.” It was a one, Samantha, and it buzzed my head.
Actually that’s where I got the idea for a sketch in the show, about that situation that happened to me. I just kept walking around like, “Okay, no, I like this, and this was intentional.” I just fooled myself.
Did you recently wipe your Instagram, or have you always just been a minimalist?
I have always had a very, very scary Instagram where there were no photos. My team even was like, “You going to put some photos on there? You going to stop scaring everyone?” And I was like, “Okay, I’ll try.” And so literally, this is me trying. Now I’m having fun with it.
I don’t like to post a whole lot, but I do love sharing the stuff that we’re making on there. But I ran Diane Keaton’s Instagram for a while.
Diane Keaton’s Instagram was legendary. Speaking of Diane, when did you become her assistant, and how did you meet her?
I was 21 or 22. I got asked by her main assistant, Stephanie Heaton, an incredible woman. She gave me a job passing out books at one of Diane’s parties, just standing at the door and being a greeter. Then it was like, “Oh, can you come help clean up the party tomorrow?” And I was like, “Sure.” An extra couple hundred bucks, happily.
And then they asked me to fill a role for someone who was leaving, and that was how it all started. It slowly became like, “Oh, will you run the Instagram? Will you drive Diane to Arizona? Will you do all that?” So I think that’s how those jobs work. I feel like I’ve heard that before. It just snowballs. And then here we are. We did a book together, Fashion First, and it’s my prized possession. I just love it. I feel so lucky.
How did you meet Stephanie? Was she just somebody you bumped shoulders with in LA?
My mother worked with her sister; I met with Stephanie when I first drove to LA at 20. We went and had coffee just to connect, so she knew I was out there. [That first gig] changed my life truly. Diane changed my life 100%.
Tell me about your relationship with Diane. What was your dynamic with her like?
She was just the coolest person in the world. I feel like I would watch her as if I was watching a movie or something—you’re watching the master work. That’s how it feels being around her. She’s unbelievable, and knew exactly what she wanted.
In hindsight I realize how important that was to be around in your twenties, a woman who knows what she wants and is unapologetic about it and has a clear vision. I love her. She taught me a lot of stuff. And the world lost someone very, very special.
Was there any one lesson she taught you that stands out?
That shit doesn’t really matter. Just have fun. Let it go. I ran her Instagram, and I remember if people didn’t like a video or something, which was rare, she didn’t know about it. She just lived her life. “You don’t like it, too bad. I like it.”
I think that’s a huge influence on me even now, especially doing comedy and [being a woman] in this industry at all. Just fuck everybody else, do what you want. She taught me that.
You guys wrote a book about her fashion. Do you think about her when you get dressed?
At one point I showed up and I was wearing her exact outfit. I think she could have so easily been like...why are you dressing like me? But she wasn’t. She’s just incredible. She was like, “You look amazing. Let’s take a picture.” And then she framed it.
What was it like when you found out about her passing? You were at work?
That day was hard. That was very painful and complicated because my job is to perform for people and make them feel happy and laugh. So I felt scared. I mean, I found out during rehearsal for the sketch with Amy Poehler where we’re at Juilliard and we’re students. We all got on the topic as a cast, “Who went to college? Where’d you go?” And I remember Tommy Brennan says, “Oh, did you go to college?” And I said, “No, Diane Keaton gave me a job and saved my life.” That’s what I said. And then I walked out and got the call.
So it was this bizarre moment where you feel like you’re almost in a simulation or something. It just didn’t feel real. And that moment just broke me down. I went into my dressing room, and everyone there just sprung into action in a way that I could not believe. SNL, they’re just the best people in the world who work so hard while simultaneously making me feel like I’m going to be okay, and I don’t need to hide how I’m feeling, and everyone’s going to be there for me. And it really was, ironically, the best place to be during that moment. It is oddly the best place to be during a high stress or emotional situation. These people have your back. They understand. They’re good people.
And it gave me the courage. I had to do my job. And it felt really good to just go for it and make people happy, make people laugh, and then go listen to her voicemails at home. They can both exist. Both of those things can exist.
Tell me about your SNL audition. How did it feel?
I had always been a little hesitant to audition because I think deep down I probably just felt terrified. I would see the show and be like, “Well, there’s no way I can do that. Look at that.”
Naomi Odenkirk, my manager, persisted. She really was like, “Ashley, you’d be great.” She’s the reason I am on this show. I brought my best stuff to the test. A week later I get a call, “They want you to come back and test again with a new five-minute [set].” And I cried. I called my mom. I said, “I can’t do this. I’m a writer. I’m not even a performer. I’m a writer.”
Two days went by, and I went with this narrative that I was not going, I was like, “I can’t do it.”
And then some ideas start popping up in your brain. You’re like, “Oh, well, what if I did this?” “Oh, this could be funny.” And, “Oh, I’ve never done this.” And I had a five minutes. It’s so funny, once I stopped beating my own ass or getting sad or crying about it, I got to work.
I went there, and it was oddly more fun than doing my best stuff. It felt a little riskier and fresher. I didn’t have any wigs. I had one hat. I had a fedora, and I had nothing else. That was it. I met with Lorne the next day and then found out after that and then flew home. I moved to New York in four or five days.
It does also feel very Keaton-esque to be in New York this time of year and to be wearing layers.
The fashion! You go on the street, and people are just dressed to the nines. This place is incredible. I just love it.