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Sarah Sherman learned her 'SNL 'checks were being sent to Gilda Radner's estate: 'I started hysterically sobbing'
Sarah Sherman got a cosmic message from late Saturday Night Live alum Gilda Radner that cinched her place on the legendary sketch series — at least, that's how she sees it.
During a recent appearance on Vulture's Good One podcast, the SNL cast member shared how a Screen Actors Guild mixup connected her and Radner, one of the show's most beloved alums who was featured from its 1975 premiere to 1980, before she died of ovarian cancer in 1989.
"I got a giant envelope in the mail," Sherman recalled, "with a handwritten letter that was like, 'Hey, I'm Gilda Radner's brother. Weird thing happened where I've been receiving all of your residuals checks for the past few months.'"
The mistake left Sherman overwhelmed. "I started, like, hysterically sobbing, obviously," she told host Jesse David Fox. "Because I'm like, 'Okay, God's speaking to me right now.' The fact that my SAG residuals checks had been sent to Gilda Radner's estate?"
The experience spurred Sherman to text her boss, SNL creator Lorne Michaels, whom she described as using an "economy of words" in his messages.
"I texted Lorne [and] I was like, 'Oh my God, my checks have been sent to Gilder Radner's estate! Isn't this like a crazy coincidence?'' she remembered. "'I feel like this is like a miracle or like I feel like this is a spirit is talking.'" (Which, upon reflection, she felt was a "schizophrenic" thing to text.)
And, true to Michaels' famously concise nature, he responded, "That's sweet."
Sherman has made a name for herself since joining SNL in season 47. While the surrealist comedian is known for her offbeat characters and ribbing Colin Jost at the "Weekend Update" desk, she landed in hot water in April when The White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood called out the show for Sherman's parody of her character, Chelsea, sporting a set of very pronounced fake teeth.
The pre-recorded parody primarily targeted President Donald Trump and his allies in the wake of tariffs upending the global economy. The sketch starred James Austin Johnson as the president, Mikey Day as Donald Trump Jr., Jon Hamm as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Chloe Fineman as Melania Trump. Sherman showed up as Wood's Chelsea, one of only a couple of actual White Lotus characters present in the sketch, along with Lizzo's portrayal of Natasha Rothwell's Belinda.
Wood called the parody "mean" and "unfunny" on social media, positing that "there must be a cleverer, more nuanced" and "less cheap way" to poke fun. She later shared that there was no bad blood between her and Sherman, the latter of whom apologetically sent Wood flowers after the entire publicly addressed her controversial parody for the first time her during an April interview, telling Vanity Fair that she felt "terrible" for insulting the season 3 breakout.
"I was excited to play her because she's so iconic, her character is so iconic, and I f---ing obviously never meant to hurt anyone's feelings," Sherman said. "Never in a million years did I get into comedy to make anyone upset. I feel terrible that anyone would feel bad."
Radner was the first person hired on SNL's season 1 cast — known as the Not Ready for Prime Time Players — that also consisted of Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, and Laraine Newman.
She stayed for five seasons, playing characters like Emily Litella, Roseanne Roseannadanna, Lisa Loopner of "The Nerds," and Barbara Walters parody, Baba Wawa. Radner won an Emmy for her work on the show.
After leaving SNL in a mass cast exodus in 1980, Radner made several movies with future husband Gene Wilder, including Hanky Panky, The Woman in Red, and Haunted Honeymoon.
She was diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer in 1986 and underwent chemotherapy and radiation therapy treatment, which took a physical and emotional toll. After a brief period of remission, her cancer returned in 1988, detailing the painful journey in her memoir, It's Always Something. She died on May 20, 1989.
Watch Sherman's appearance on the Good One podcast above.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
