{"id":732943,"date":"2026-06-13T00:49:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T00:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/732943\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T00:49:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T00:49:11","slug":"ashley-padilla-on-diane-keaton-social-media-becoming-snls-breakout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/732943\/","title":{"rendered":"Ashley Padilla on Diane Keaton, Social Media, Becoming SNL’s Breakout"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAshley Padilla<\/a> was shopping with her mom at Glendale\u2019s Americana at Brand outdoor mall in September 2024 when the news was announced: She had just been added to \u201cSaturday Night Live<\/a>\u201d as a featured player.<\/p>\n

\n\tPadilla had just collaborated with her old boss, Diane Keaton, on a new book, \u201cFashion First,\u201d and was purchasing copies at Barnes & Noble when she received word that the news was about to break. \u201cI was terrified,\u201d she remembers. \u201cI was scared people would go, \u2018Ew, her! Why that face? Why that person?\u2019 So I bought my book at Barnes & Noble, and we sat and waited. It makes me sick thinking about it!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was Padilla\u2019s mom who broke the tension by speaking to the woman sitting next to them, who was being extra chatty. \u201cI told her about the book that I just made, and I ended up giving her one that I bought,\u201d Padilla recalls. \u201cAnd then my mom was like, \u2018She\u2019s about to be on SNL!\u2019 And so the woman took a picture with me. That was the first person that we told!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThat woman may not realize it, but her impromptu photo with Padilla might now be a collector\u2019s item. Since Padilla joined \u201cSNL\u201d during its landmark 50th season in fall 2024, she\u2019s quickly become the sketch series\u2019 breakout star.<\/p>\n

\n\tPadilla met up with Variety\u2018s Awards Circuit Podcast<\/a> to discuss her journey and also take the 10 Questions Quiz. Listen below!<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to Latenighter.com, Padilla held the crown for the recently wrapped Season 51 as the cast member with the show\u2019s most screentime and appearances \u2014 the first time a featured player has led that tally. Among this year\u2019s highlights: Padilla as a suburban mom who slowly, and painfully, admits that she might be changing her mind on Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Livermore, Calif., native moved to Los Angeles in 2014 to pursue comedy, but says she didn\u2019t necessarily have a plan in place. \u201cI was just following the funny,\u201d she says. \u201cI was like, \u2018this is where I\u2019m excelling. I like it here. I really like performing as a character.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPadilla found her footing as a member of the famed Groundlings troupe, which she calls \u201ccomedy college.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou do a bunch of levels at Groundlings, where you\u2019re just improvising with people, and then you hit a level where they\u2019re like, \u2018OK, now you need to write your thoughts, you need to write the joke,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cThat was so intimidating, but it taught me to write sketches for myself \u2014 which I\u2019ve now brought to the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThat Groundlings training clearly paid off with \u201cSNL.\u201d Padilla admits that she still finds it \u201cshocking\u201d that she\u2019s on the legendary series \u2014 and how the reaction to her has been so overwhelmingly positive.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt blows my mind, because I just want to do the work so badly,\u201d she says. \u201cI assumed people would go, \u2018look, we hate her, it\u2019s not happening for us.\u2019 You write your sketches, and it\u2019s your brain that you\u2019re also laying out on the table. You\u2019re saying, \u2018this is what I think is funny,\u2019 and it\u2019s very vulnerable. And so the fact that people are enjoying it is something I could have never asked for.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s also a bit overwhelming because Padilla likes to remain an intensely private person. She has mostly avoided social media, and doesn\u2019t find much enjoyment in posting elements from her life. \u201cI do my best work when I\u2019m focused and not distracted, and I think sometimes that place, online, can feel a little distracting.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think that\u2019s what it is, too, is I live such a boring life,\u201d she says of her limited online presence. \u201cI\u2019m like, what am I gonna show? That I\u2019m watching \u2018Survivor\u2019 again and eating tuna?\u201d Actually, that sounds like a pretty good \u201cSNL\u201d sketch.<\/p>\n

\n\t10 QUESTIONS WITH ASHLEY PADILLA:<\/p>\n

\n\t1. Childhood nickname:\u00a0\u201cMy sister used to call me \u2018Ass Pee.\u2019 Instead of Ashley. It\u2019s hurtful, and people shouldn\u2019t be called that!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t2. Something you loved as a kid but can\u2019t believe you were into it now:\u00a0\u201cWhen I was really young, I was in love with pretending to be a witch. So that\u2019s odd, and I promise I don\u2019t do that anymore. It\u2019s like a weird thing I did, thought I could like do potions and stuff!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t3. Go-to Karaoke or sing-in-the-shower song:\u00a0\u201cAnything that\u2019s on, or a lot of Ariana Grande.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t4. Give me an alternate title for your show:\u00a0\u00a0[not asked]<\/p>\n

\n\t5. What\u2019s your secret talent?: \u201cI can do this with my tongue. I should have done that in my \u2018SNL\u2019 test.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t6. Favorite ice cream flavor: Vegan cookie dough.<\/p>\n

\n\t7. The one item you couldn\u2019t live without: \u201cMy brain said my family, and that\u2019s not what this is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t8. What TV show in all of history do you wish you were a cast member of?: \u201c\u2018The Office.\u2019 I watch that thing and I just rewatch it and rewatch it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t9. Fictional character you most admire: Carrie Bradshaw.<\/p>\n

\n\t10. Your personal hot take: \u201cMaybe my hot take is that everyone just needs to leave each other alone, stop being mean to each other. Such a boring hot take. It\u2019s a good take, but we don\u2019t need to like beat anyone\u2019s ass over anything. I don\u2019t know, maybe stop being mean.\u201d<\/p>\n

Variety\u2019s \u201cAwards Circuit\u201d podcast, hosted by Clayton Davis, Jazz Tangcay, Emily Longeretta and Michael Schneider, who also produces, is your one-stop source for lively conversations about the best in film and television. Each episode, \u201cAwards Circuit\u201d features interviews with top film and TV talent and creatives, discussions and debates about awards races and industry headlines, and much more. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or anywhere you download podcasts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ashley Padilla was shopping with her mom at Glendale\u2019s Americana at Brand outdoor mall in September 2024 when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":732944,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[128917,64,63,208188,16906,134,33892,427],"class_list":["post-732943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-ashley-padilla","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-awards-circuit-podcast","tag-emmys","tag-entertainment","tag-saturday-night-live","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=732943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/732944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=732943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=732943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=732943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}