For PvNew’s latest issue, we asked Aidy Bryant to write a tribute to Bowen Yang, one of 53 people to make our New Power of New York list. For the full list, click here.
Not to sound like a cigar-in-mouth Hollywood blowhard, but Bowen Yang is a star. Bowen is effortlessly funny and a pillar at “Saturday Night Live.” Bowen is the emotional heart of “Fire Island.” Bowen looks perfectly placed on a red carpet in platform boots — a hunk for the ages.
To audiences and our industry, he feels like an old friend — like he belongs, and we need him. So it’s easy to forget that Bowen is still new. He’s just starting his fourth year on “SNL.” I don’t mean this to diminish him. What I mean is, we have only had our first glances at his talent, just barely breaking the surface of what he’s capable of.
Bowen’s skill is only outmatched by his deeply feeling heart. His work, no matter how silly or pointed, has a clear sense of what is right and wrong, not just for the world but for himself.
After my decade at the show, the last sketch I wrote was with Bowen, because I wanted to have fun and feel protected, and with Bowen, that’s a given. How powerful to be the funniest person in the room, the sharpest writer, the kindest friend and fiercely loyal to his fellow worker. But buckle up, baby, because Bowen Yang is just getting started.
Aidy Bryant is an actress and comedian. She first joined the cast of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” in 2012, beginning a 10-season run with the sketch comedy series. She overlapped with her co-star, Bowen Yang, for three seasons before exiting the series in 2022. Bryant also starred in the Hulu series “Shrill” and is a main voice cast member of the Netflix animated series “Human Resources.”
