A modern staple of late-night television, Seth Meyers has worked at NBC’s 30 Rock headquarters for nearly 20 years. The host of the acclaimed “Late Night with Seth Meyers” first cut his teeth at “Saturday Night Live,” working his way up to head writer and establishing himself on the Weekend Update desk over his 12-year tenure. The Emmy winner joined Backstage’s acting podcast, “In the Envelope,” to offer advice for other comedy writers and share his memories from “SNL.”
Seth Meyers’ Message of Hope for Aspiring Actors, Writers & Comedians At what point did comedy go from being a hobby to a career?
I do remember standing onstage at our last college [improv] show, thinking, “Alright, I’m going to try to do this until it seems irrational. I’ll at least throw it out there.” I moved to Chicago, I started waiting tables, and I would improvise. There was a paper called the Chicago Reader that had audition notices, and there was an audition notice for an improv theater in Amsterdam called Boom Chicago. It happened pretty quickly; it was only about six months after I graduated. Some Chicago guys had gone to Amsterdam, and they started a Second City–inspired theater there. They had auditions, and we went as a lark, my best friend and I, and we got a call saying, “We want you to move to Amsterdam”…. It was great, and the best thing about it was the stage reps. I think it was two years where I was basically doing 200 shows a year. There’s no replacement for that, as far as learning your own voice.
What impressions did you break out in the “SNL” audition room?
Remember, this was 2001: Russell Crowe, David Arquette, Hugh Grant. Boom, boom, boom—those were the three. Again, very useful [for a] 2001 audition. I think in the end, I only did Hugh Grant once on the show.
Who has been your favorite person to interview on “Late Night”?
Joan Rivers was one of my favorite interviews ever. But it wasn’t really an interview; I just set her up for jokes. There was nothing genuine or honest about the interaction. I was just one of the audience members with a better seat.
Who has been the most influential person on your career?
There are two: Amy Poehler—I was really lucky to start on “SNL” with her because I already looked up to her, and she was this incredibly kind person. We were new at the same time, but she was far more established than I was in show business; she had already been on television shows, been in movies. She was very kind to take me along on the ride. And then Mike Shoemaker, who was a producer there and is my producer now. He was somebody who was always very honest, and I made a decision early on to trust and listen to him.
What advice do you have for other actors and entertainers?
If you really believe you have something to say and something to share, you have to put your heart into getting that message out there. If there’s that message in you, be it your talent or something you want to say specific to the moment we’re living in, just keep working on your instrument. Because if you value it, there’s a high likelihood that the audience will value it, too…. From a distance, showbiz looks fun and easy. Up close, it’s fun and hard.
What message do you have for America?
There’s never been a permanent moment in American political history. There are these really nice opportunities to change things at ballot boxes….. Register and do all those things you’re supposed to do. It’s nice we live in a place where we’re allowed to go and vote and tell people what we think. Hopefully, there’ll be a majority of people who hold that opinion.
This story originally appeared in the Aug. 20 issue of Backstage Magazine. Subscribe here.
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