-Our next guest is a very funny actress,
comedian, and cast member on "Saturday Night Live."
Please welcome to the show and to the studio, Ego Nwodim.
♪♪
Hi! -My mask...
-That's all right.
This is my way of showing you...
Hi, Ego! -Seth, hello!
Hello! -This is a big deal for us.
-Oh, yes. -Well, we had, since March,
the only other person we've had in studio was Amber Ruffin,
but she technically works here.
So this is the first non-employee.
-And it's no pressure for me,
because I'm getting tested every day.
-I know. We're both getting tested a lot,
so it's lovely to have you here.
-Thank you for having me. I'm happy to be here.
-This is -- you're three episodes into the season.
-Yes. -And we obviously are learning
all the new protocols that are put in place,
but this show is a lot easier to produce than "SNL."
How has it been? It must be insane.
-It is -- It's pretty wild.
Like, testing has now become a regular part of life.
It's like, "Yep, gonna eat breakfast
and get my COVID test."
And the crew is just sort of pared down,
of course, for safety reasons.
I'm also just seeing the top of my castmates' faces
for most of the week until, like, we do the live sketch,
and I'm like, "Oh, okay!
There is more there at the bottom of your face.
So, it's very different, but everything is different.
I said that to Lorne this week. I was like,
"The table read is so different"
and he kind of was like, "Mm-hmm."
-[ Laughs ] "Because the world, Ego? Yeah."
So... -This is your third season.
And so, basically, the first year and a half
was pretty normal. -Mm-hmm.
-But also when I think back to my first two seasons
on the show, which were, you know,
had some strange things happen, as well,
but you never feel very comfortable
your first couple seasons on the show.
-Yeah. -The third season
should be a time to sort of find your legs.
-[ Laughs ] -And do you at least feel normal
when you are in the sketches? -Yeah.
-Does that, like, return you to what is --
it's supposed to be? -Yes. Yes, it does.
I mean, that is probably the only normal part right now
for us, I think, is, like, when we do the sketch for air,
we are removing the masks, and we're shooting the thing,
and I'm like, "Okay, this I remember.
This I know. I know how to navigate this."
But, yeah, I was thinking the same thing.
I'm like, "I'm supposed to be comfortable now!"
-[ Laughs ] -"This is frickin'..." yeah.
-Yeah. You're on the right.
You're not a featured player anymore.
You're on the right side of the montage.
-Believe. And I walk around the halls saying I'm rep now.
-[ Laughs ] -Everyone needs to respect me.
I don't do that. Only to a few people.
-This is -- I did not know this about you.
You were -- in school, you were a biology major.
-I was. I was.
-And did your parents know that your sort of real desires
were to be a performer? -Yes. Yes.
They -- Yeah. So, my mom always sort of knew.
And the deal I basically made with my mom was that
I would study biology. I would be pre-med
if she let me go to Los Angeles for college.
-Uh-huh. -Where the acting happened.
In my mind, at least, at, like, 17-years-old.
But you shouldn't let 17-year-olds make decisions,
I don't think. -Right.
-So that was -- So, she knew that.
But my friends didn't know.
-This is your college friends or high school?
-My college friends. -Gotcha.
-I don't even -- did my high school friends know?
I don't think any of my friends knew.
None of my friends. So they didn't know the real me.
-And so, when you were in biology lab
with other biologists... -And organic.
-...or aspiring biologists... -[ Laughs ]
-An organic chemistry lab. -Yeah.
-Yes, yes. -And where were you
sort of stretching your acting legs?
Were you doing it on the side in college at all?
-Okay. So, my sophomore year of college --
So, at my school, there was this scholarship program
that was called a renaissance scholarship,
and if your majors were so different,
you could be eligible for the scholarship.
So I thought, "Oh, great. I'm gonna apply for that
second year, my sophomore year."
But I took a theater class, I believe,
the first semester of my sophomore year,
and I absolutely hated it. [ Laughs ]
I hated it so much. And so, I was like,
"Guess I'm not gonna be a renaissance scholar."
And then I just did biology stuff
for the majority of college.
And then, I picked up two minors that also had nothing to do
with entertainment or performing.
-Wow. -Yeah.
-Do you think -- Looking back, do you think anyone
in any of your biology or chemistry classes thought,
"You know what? I think that's a,
like, closet actor." -Okay.
So, I think, perhaps my chemistry professor
in my freshman year, because I had 8:00 a.m. classes,
which I didn't realize was, like, kiss of death in college.
You shouldn't be going for 8:00 a.m. classes.
I was like, "Get them out of way."
-If you're smart enough to be a biology major,
you should have known that. -You should know.
No, but I didn't know.
-You should've pieced that together.
-But here's the thing, Seth. I wasn't smart enough
to be a biology major, okay? -Okay, gotcha.
Sorry, I jumped to a conclusion. Right.
-Exactly. Let me just clarify here.
So, my professor my freshman year,
my chemistry professor, I would, like, show up
at this 8:00 a.m. class, like, dead tired,
and I'd sit in the front row because I'm like,
"Look at me be proactive," but I'd fully go to sleep.
And not even the, like,
"Oh, she's nodding off, but she's trying."
We're talking, head down asleep. -Yeah.
So, he probably knew, "She doesn't want this."
My lab mates in organic chemistry, I think they knew.
Organic chemistry is, like, notoriously a hard course.
I used to be in the lab, which is supposed to be, like,
a buffer for your grade, singing Britney Spears,
"Slave 4 U." -[ Laughs ]
-And I think my classmates then knew, "This girl's not serious."
-There's something else. -"Something's wrong with her."
-There may be something else you should do.
I was so tired once when I went to a geology class,
which was the only science class I took in college to, like,
fulfill a requirement.
And I was so tired, and there was, I guess,
this joke that the teacher did every year which is,
he held up a rock, and he was like,
"Can anybody tell me what kind of rock this is?"
And then he would throw it, 'cause it was foam.
And the joke is that everybody would scatter.
And I was so tired, it bounced off my head.
And then he said, "Do you want to go home?"
And I was like, "I'd like to. I'd like that."
-"I do. I don't want to be here."
[ Both laugh ]
-We did -- when I came back and hosted a couple years ago,
your first year then. -Yes, yes. Yeah.
-You and Leslie Jones,
we did a sketch together where you were police officers.
-Yes. -Baltimore police officers.
-Baltimore -- because it's a little nod to the hometown.
They didn't like it. -No.
It turned out they didn't like it.
Basically, I guess it was --
the sketch is technically called "Traffic Cops."
-Mm-hmm. -But it was like, "Thirsty."
-Oh. So, "Traffic Stop" was the sketch name,
and then "Thirsty Cops" is... -"Thirsty Cops," yes.
-"Thirsty cops," yes.
-It was a joy for me to be objectified.
-Thank you. Well, that was --
I wanted to make sure, whatever host --
I said, "Who is gonna want to be objectified?"
And I said "Seth. Seth, is gonna want to be objectified."
-I was on that show for 12 1/2 years
and no one came close to objectifying me...
-[ Laughs ] -...until I came back to host.
-I think we got you covered. -But it was great.
Because I, you know, again, I don't know why I was so happy
to run afoul of the Baltimore police, but I did.
It was very nice that you guys helped me
make a dream come true. -Yeah.
[ Laughs ] It's incredible.
-But you did hear from the Baltimore P.D.?
-Um, not -- I mean, well, I heard from a lot of police.
-[ Laughs ] Not just the Baltimore P.D.
And I think it's kind of funny because they thought
that made them look bad, and now we're in 2020, and uh-oh.
-Yeah. -Yeah. Some other stuff.
[ Both laugh ] -They were like --
They're probably calling up being like,
"You should do another one of those."
-"Come on, make us look good." -Yeah.
"Where you say inappropriate sexual things.
Do that again!" -That's better.
-Yeah. -No. So, I read the news.
They weren't happy. They weren't into it.
And I thought, "Okay. They --"
I'm just like, "Baltimore P.D., they have their uniforms."
I was like, "They have specific uniforms.
Here we are, nod to hometown." -It was a nod to hometown.
-Yeah. -People should appreciate that.
Any -- there's -- no press is bad press,
and you did a solid for them. -Is that true, though?
-It's not true. It's not true.
-I said it, and as soon as I did, I knew it wasn't true.
-I was like, "Seth, you don't believe that.
You know better than that."
-Hey, thank you so much for being here.
-Thank you. -This is episode four...
-Yeah. -...of five in a row,
which, in all of my years, I never did.
-I know. -Keep your endurance up.
-Thank you. -You're doing great.
-Thank you. -Thanks for much being here.