When Aimee Lou Wood referred to Sarah Sherman‘s parody of her in a recent White Lotus-themed sketch on Saturday Night Live as “mean and unfunny,” it highlighted just how much the show missed the mark. Reflecting on the incident in a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Sherman acknowledged the contrast between her intention and the overall execution of the bit, which largely mocked Wood’s appearance.
“I was excited to play her because she’s so iconic, her character is so iconic,” Sherman said. “And I fucking obviously never meant to hurt anyone’s feelings. Never in a million years did I get into comedy to make anyone upset. I feel terrible that anyone would feel bad.”
Last month, Wood shared that Sherman sent her flowers in apology and said she received an additional apology from Saturday Night Live. Wood also noted that while she understands the nature of the sketch comedy series as one that is rooted in popular culture, she saw the treatment of her character in particular as cheap comedy. “I don’t mind caricature – I understand that’s what SNL is. But the rest of the skit was punching up and I/Chelsea was the only one punched down on,” she said at the time. “Not Sarah Squirm’s fault and not hating on her. Hating on the concept.”
Sherman has been on Saturday Night Live for four seasons, but the responsibility attached to her work is ever-changing. “The show is in constant dialogue with culture as it’s happening, and it happens really fast,” she said. “You have to be vigilant, you know what I mean? There are a lot of things out of your control. You’re playing a lot of different parts, you’re doing a lot of different roles that you’re not in control.”
She added: “Being in conversation with everything popular culture, there’s such a danger there. Sometimes you just don’t realize how it comes across, but you’re put in a position to be engaging with it all the time, because you are a part of a show that’s constantly interacting with culture and popular politics and popular whatever. As I get thrown more and more into the show, it’s just this other thing that I have to learn about.”
From Rolling Stone US
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