Saturday Night Live: Cecily Strong wisely canceled her cameo as Elise Stefanik
By Matt Moore
Saturday Night Live alum Cecily Strong backed out of a cameo in the disastrous cold open that opened the December 9 show. The fan-favorite ultimately made the right choice and dodged a bullet.
The Adam Driver-hosted episode opened with a parody of the recent hearing regarding antisemitism on college campuses. University presidents came under scrutiny for failing to condemn specific hate speech.
But SNL’s attempt to lampoon the hearing fell flat. Most of the attention was on Representative Elise Stefanki, played by rookie cast member Chloe Troast. However, Troast only got the gig because of a last-minute change.
Cecily Strong was originally in the role. She reportedly even went through dress rehearsal before choosing to back out of the sketch.
According to sources at the New York Post, Strong was uncomfortable with the premise and dropped out for a number of reasons. It’s easy to speculate and assume Strong knew the sketch wasn’t going to work.
The hearing became a controversial topic, which on it’s own isn’t a reason for SNL to avoid it. But SNL’s decision to mock the university president and Stefanik fell flat because of uninspired writing and no real hook to engage the audience.
Saturday Night Live season 49 newcomer Chloe Troast is now the face of the failed sketch. She’s been unfairly dragged for her portrayal of Stefanik. At the end of the day, Troast did the best she could with the material and what turned out to be a challenging situation.
Could Cecily Strong return to Saturday Night Live this week?
The studio and home audiences would have loved to see Cecily Strong back in Studio 8H. But the weak cold open would have ruined the moment and Strong’s return.
Strong last appeared as a Saturday Night Live cast member in December 2022 after 11 seasons. Strong deserves better than what was planned for the cold open when and if she comes back.
The December 16 episode offers a chance to make things right. Kate McKinnon returns to host for the first time since leaving the cast. She became a comedy star alongside Strong, so it makes sense for a cameo to come this week.
Previously, Strong suggested she wasn’t in a rush to return to Saturday Night Live. Thankfully, that same mindset kept her from going forward with last week’s cold open. A week to reset and sharing the state with McKinnon may be just what Strong needs ahead of her homecoming.