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On the April 12 episode of Saturday Night Live, the cold open was a political parody of The White Lotus titled The White Potus. Overall, it was a funny take on the Trump administration’s melodrama. However, there was a skit midway through that featured Jon Hamm as RFK Jr. talking to Sarah Sherman, who was wearing fake buck teeth in a reference to Aimee Lou Wood’s character. After it aired, Aimee tweeted that she thought her portrayal in the sketch was “mean & unfunny.” Sarah sent Aimee flowers afterwards, which Aimee posted on her Instagram stories.
SNL star Bowen Yang co-stars in the recently-released romcom, The Wedding Banquet, alongside Kelly Marie Tran (Rose from Star Wars: The Last Jedi), Lily Gladstone, and South Korean actor Han Gi-chan. It’s a remake of the 1993 Ang Lee film about two gay couples who make a “secret arrangement.” While doing press for the movie, Extra caught up with Bowen and Kelly. They asked Bowen about Aimee’s reaction to the sketch. Ever the professional, Bowen responded by kindly acknowledging that Aimee had every right to not like the joke, calling her feelings “completely valid.”
“Bowen reacted to “The White Lotus” star Aimee Lou Wood criticizing a recent “SNL” parody of her character as “mean and unfunny.”
He commented, “However she reacted to that sketch is completely valid. You kind of forget the sort of human, emotional cost that it sort of extols on someone.”
“You need those reminders every now and then that parody can go too far sometimes, and that we as comedians can take account for that instead of banging our foot and saying that, like, we should be allowed to say whatever we want because that’s just the culture,” Bowen emphasized.
Yang expressed that the “SNL” cast are fans of “The White Lotus” and Aimee Lou, saying, “We just think that she should be so proud of the work that she put into this season.”
I think that Aimee’s feelings were totally justified, so I love Bowen’s response here. He validated her feelings while acknowledging that, yeah, sometimes parody can cross a line from smart commentary or poking fun to being just plain mean. It’s easy to imagine other SNL castmates – past or present – doubling down and dismissing Aimee’s criticism. Good for Bowen for being able to see the good in other people. The world would be so much better off if we could also stop, listen, understand, and accept our differences.
Kelly also recently came out as queer! Turns out, before she accepted the role (as a lesbian), she wasn’t publicly out yet. However, by the end of filming and the start of doing press, she felt confident enough to come out.
When Kelly stepped onto the set, she wasn’t publicly out yet. Tran recalled, “We were shooting the Korean wedding and we had a reporter from Vanity Fair on set and I remember I’m fully decked out in this whole situation. It was, like, in the middle of the day, and then we had this little corner room where we were each doing interviews, and he asked me, quite simply, ‘What are you most excited about?’ and I was like, ‘I’m so excited to tell a queer story as a queer person,’ and then I was like, ‘Oh,’ and it was such a sweet moment because I’ve never had this experience before.”
Kelly Marie noted that producers checked in with her to make sure she was fine to share that part of her identity. She said, “I had a few months to really think about [it]. By the time we finished filming, I was so excited about being in a film where we’re celebrating that part of my identity, A lot of our identities. Why would I not share this?”
I love this for Kelly! The hard-core, douche-bro Star Wars fans were unforgivably awful to her, so I’m just so grateful that she’s finally feeling confident enough to be her true self. There was also a long period of time in which I genuinely thought that she would stop acting, too. I’m so glad Kelly has risen above it and figure out her true self. At the very least, we all deserve that.
I’ll probably never meet Bowen Yang IRL but he seems like a good human. He’s so talented that I wonder how much longer he’ll stay on SNL.
My neighbor and I were just discussing how he is an absolute treasure, so his thoughtful response it not a surprise. His intelligence and compassion, along with his hilarious side, comes through in his podcast with Matt Rogers, Las Culturistas. Highly recommend!
I liked him on SNL too. However, he was mocking people’s reaction to Ariana and SpongeBob’s affair. “There is something so unqueer, puritanical, christian, & trad wifey about people’s opinions over marriage. Acting like marriage is supposed to be this sacred thing.” This was him talking about people feeling sorry for a woman who was still going through postpartum and dealing with her husband’s affair with a popstar. He is very unsympathetic when it comes to defending his famous friends. Also, calling the marriage “trad wifey” when the woman in the marriage is a doctor and helping other women in her professional life must be the next level misogynistic delirium.
Same. Just good vibes all around with him. She was hurt by it and that needs to be acknowledged. Though I still feel it wasn’t intended to mock her but the media obsession with her teeth.
It still bugs me every character in White Potus was someone in the Trump circus representing a character in White Lotus. Why was Aimee singled out as the only character true to the series. They could have easily used Cheryl Hines or one of the MAGA dingbat senators to represent Chelsea.
Just a dick move by SNL to do that. Also, her teeth are what makes her special. I am so tired of every actor having blinding white straight veneer teeth.
Also, have to fact check here @Rosie. But White Potus was not the cold opening for the April 12 episode. Trump / Easter was.
Oops! I could have sworn it was the cold open, but I was traveling that evening and watched clips of it at my hotel on Sunday, so my memory must be completely off here. Thanks for the fact check! 🙂
This take is a so much better take than all those comedians who claim that they should be able to say whatever they want in the name of comedy and that people should grow a sense of humor. The truth is that sometimes comedy is too harsh and the line between funny and mean can be narrow. I especially hate comedy that makes fun of another person’s physical appearance. The best comedians are the ones who use their own ridiculousness as material.
The joke was mean. I’m glad that was acknowledged.
On the topic of Bowen and Kelly, I saw The Wedding Banquet a few days ago. They were both wonderful in it.
Still scratching my head over this:
“…emotional cost that it sort of extols on someone.”