- Will Forte tells EW that returning to Saturday Night Live “still makes me nervous” 16 years after leaving the show.
- The MacGruber actor says he didn’t often reflect on the achievement of working at SNL during his time there: “You’re just moving forward.”
- The star explains how SNL50 provided a unique opportunity to recognize “what a special thing” it was to work at SNL: “What an honor!”
Will Forte loved his time on Saturday Night Live — but heading back to 30 Rock still gives him the willies.
The MacGruber actor tells Entertainment Weekly that returning to Studio 8H inspires a wide range of emotions even 16 years after leaving the sketch show.
“It’s great. It’s so fun to be back,” he says. “It still makes me nervous every time I enter that building. It’s built into every cell of your body — you have this cellular memory that gets activated when you walk in the door.”
Will Forte in Santa Monica, Calif., on May 19, 2025.
Leon Bennett/Getty
He continues, “But also there are so many old friends that still work there behind the scenes and this wonderful continuity with this whole family that’s there. And so that part is great. It’s so fun to be back with this new cast.”
Forte worked on SNL from 2002 to 2010. He recently returned to the show with a new MacGruber sketch when Glen Powell hosted the show in October. Before that, he joined dozens of the show’s famous alums for its 50th anniversary celebration in February 2025.
“The 50th anniversary was a very, very special time,” Forte remembers. “‘Cause when you’re there, it’s this amazing place with this tradition, and it’s such an honor to be there, but you’re grinding through each week and you’re stressed out, and you get through the week and then you gotta just dive into the next week. And you have very little time to really take a big-picture look at what’s going on. You’re just moving forward.”
SNL50, he says, was different. “The 50th was a really fun time to actually get a chance to really go, ‘Wow, what a special thing I got to be a part of,'” Forte explains. “One of my biggest goals going into comedy was getting on SNL. So to have been a part of it — what an honor!”
The comedian describes the festivities as a somewhat overwhelming experience. “It was a lot to take in and it was really fun and special,” he says. “You really got to reflect a little bit, which wasn’t always the case. Every once in a while while I was there, it would dawn on me: ‘Oh my God, I’m at Saturday Night Live right now! My dream job!’ But most of the time you’re just stressed out. ‘Oh God, what, what are we gonna do this week?’ So this was a time when you could really relax and have fun.”
Will Forte at ‘SNL50: The Anniversary Special’ in New York City on Feb. 16, 2025.
Mike Coppola/NBC via Getty
But the celebration also provided new opportunities for nervousness.
“Everywhere you turned, there was a new exciting person. So many people who I was fans of from the show that I never got to meet,” Forte says. “I’ve been near Bill Murray so many times, but never had the courage to go up and introduce myself. I still get starstruck around people, and I get really quiet and shy. Even around people who are incredibly easy to talk to, like Martin Short — couldn’t be a nicer person than Martin Short, and I still get really quiet. I just turned into a dummy. So people are very patient with me.”
Forte still has to remind himself that he’s enmeshed with the same legacy as so many of his heroes. “I’m starstruck around so many of those people,” he explains. “It was really fun because I kept seeing these really fun people that I’m a fan of, and I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s right, I’m part of this thing too. Geez, wow. What a cool thing.'”
Will Forte, Bill Hader, and Josh Brolin on ‘Saturday Night Live’.
SNL/YouTube
Forte recently partnered with Teva to launch a campaign raising awareness for Huntington’s disease. The actor’s brother-in-law, Douglas, was diagnosed with the condition, which is an inherited disorder in which the brain’s nerve cells decay over time, affecting movement, cognitive ability, and mental health.
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“More people have Huntington’s than have ALS, but everybody knows ALS, so that’s why we’re trying to get the word out about it,” Forte says. “We’re trying to get some support and a bigger community going to support the people who have Huntington’s, and to teach the people who don’t have it about it.”
The actor emphasizes the importance of openly discussing the condition. “The more you can be there to support your loved ones who are going through it and create a big community around them, the better,” he says. “And to talk about it. Just talk about it. The more you talk about it, the better. ’cause It’s easy to just get scared about, ‘Oh, am I gonna say the right thing? What do I say?’ But saying anything is better than saying nothing.”
You can learn more about Forte’s family’s experience with Huntington’s disease on the HonestlyHD website.
