Former Saturday Night Live star Kevin Nealon has criticised current cast members for breaking into laughter during sketches, arguing it undermines the writers' work and does not serve the comedy.
In a post on X, Nealon said: 'I never broke character on SNL. I knew how much time the writers put into those scripts. You don’t want to be the one who throws it off. Lorne doesn’t like when the cast breaks. Even if the audience laughs, it doesn’t work for the sketch.'
Nealon, who was a cast member from 1986 to 1995 and anchored Weekend Update from 1991 to 1994, did not name specific individuals. However, his comments come after an episode hosted by Ryan Gosling saw both the actor and cast member Ashley Padilla repeatedly break character during a 'Passing Notes' sketch.
Breaking character has long been a feature of SNL, with former cast members such as Jimmy Fallon known for laughing through sketches. Fallon drew criticism from fellow alumnus Tracy Morgan, who said in 2011 that Fallon's laughter 'takes all the attention off everybody else'.
