Posted on December 01, 2023

On his transition from striving for perfectionism to embracing the unexpected: “I think I’ve loosened my grip a little recently,” he explains. “I would go into each season with so many promises to myself or really concrete, maybe overly defined goals. I’m trying to not be as self-prescriptive or stubborn with myself because then it leaves room for surprise and delight.” “I’m really starting to believe in this idea that inspiration and genius strike you when you’re open to it, not forcing it,” he says. “And even—I’m going to bring her up—Taylor Swift has described this thing where she’s said songwriting is this cloud that’s in front of you, and you have to catch it and get it down on paper before it goes away. That’s exactly what it is, and I think everyone at SNL has an experience with engaging with that thing of Oh, it’s here. It’s right in front of us and it’s going to disappear if we don’t get this down. That’s a pretty incredible process to go through.”

On the tiring SNL schedule and why he’s all about “bed rot” on his day off: “On the seesaw, where it’s stressful and it’s fun and those [things] may be on opposite ends, the fun should be the thing that has more weight,” he says. “The stress is inevitable, but, water off a duck’s back; focus on what underpins this whole thing.” Although Yang’s plan for his day off (which during a week when SNL is in production is exclusively Sunday), suggests the stress has at least some weight: “Not to bring up this Gen Z phenomenon but it is, like, bed rot,” he says. “I pray everyone across the staff and personnel at SNL is doing what I’m doing on Sunday.”

On how his co-stars on Nora From Queens helped build his confidence as an actor: “It was me, Akwafina [who plays Nora], BD Wong [who plays Nora’s father], and Lori Tan Chinn [who plays Nora’s grandmother], just at a restaurant. And I was eating the food and swallowing it every take. And all three of these people, different generations of actors, were  like, ‘No, no, no, no, no, you can’t do that. You’re going to throw up. You need to ask for the spit bucket and spit it out.’ And it never occurred to me that that existed. It was just these basic things that, in the spirit of generosity and care and love, everyone was like, ‘No, you sweet little zygote, you don’t know what you’re doing.’” The experience helped boost his confidence about appearing on other shows. “[Being on shows] is a series of not knowing what you don’t know and then knowing what you do and then trying to figure out how to make the two coexist,” he says.

On his upcoming role in Wicked alongside Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo: “I’ve really scammed my way through Hollywood,” Yang says of this foray into singing. “Because after Wicked comes out, I’ll be in two musicals where I sing for maybe five seconds total. Now, how did I get away with this? People are going to be mad.”