Andy Samberg finally revealed the reason for his shocking departure from “Saturday Night Live” after seven seasons.
The comedian, who went on to star in the hit sitcom “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” admitted on Peacock’s “Hart to Heart” that the sketch comedy series was taking a toll on his health.
“It was a big choice. For me, it was like, I can’t actually endure it anymore, but I didn’t want to leave,” he told host Kevin Hart (via Entertainment Weekly).
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“Physically and emotionally, like I was falling apart in my life.”
Samberg, 45, quietly left “SNL” after the Season 37 finale in May 2012 and confirmed weeks later that he wouldn’t return.
The “Palm Springs” star shared his breaking point came when his Lonely Island bandmates, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, departed the NBC series after their writing contracts terminated after five years.
The duo’s exit made Samberg realize he couldn’t handle the pressure of penning hits like “D–k in a Box” and “I’m on a Boat” without them.
“I was basically left in charge of making the shorts, which I never pretended like I could do without them,” Samberg said, noting that he didn’t have the same chemistry with other writers that he had with his childhood friends.
“We made stuff I’m really proud of in those last two years, but there’s something about the songs that I can only do with Akiva and Jorm. It’s just how it is, we’re just a band in that way.”
The “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping” actor eventually realized the grueling schedule of working on “SNL” was causing him to decline because he “hadn’t slept in seven years basically,” he told Hart, 45.
“We were writing stuff for the live show Tuesday night all night, the table read Wednesday, then being told now come up with a digital short so write all Thursday [and] Thursday night, don’t sleep, get up, shoot Friday, edit all night Friday night and into Saturday, so it’s basically like four days a week you’re not sleeping, for seven years,” he detailed to the host.
“So I just kinda fell apart physically.”
Samberg has gone on to have a tremendously successful TV and film career – even hosting the Emmys — and returned to host “SNL” in 2014. He’s also made five cameo appearances since his departure.
“It sounds very corny and rehearsed, but I’m just always like I still can’t believe I get to do comedy for a living,” Samberg shared with Hart.
“It’s all I wanted to do. I got to be on ‘SNL.’ It went way better than I expected.”
