Photo: Instagram
She just joined the cast of SNL.
By Amy Lamare — Written on Sep 24, 2018
Who is Ego Nwodim? Changes are coming to the 44th season of Saturday Night Live and we're feeling them! The venerable comedy sketch show is adding another super-talented woman of color to its cast. Ego Nwodim has been cast as this season's newest featured player. She will replace last season's new cast member Luke Null. It was recently revealed that he would not be returning to SNL. Nwodim is one of a small number of black women to be cast on the long running series. She is preceded by Maya Rudolph, Yvonne Hudson, Ellen Cleghorne, Danitra Vance, Sasheer Zamata, and current cast member Leslie Jones. Nwodim is a working actress and comedian but as of now a virtual unknown. Something tells us that's about to change! Let's take a look at everything we know about Ego Nwodim and the upcoming season of SNL.
1. She's 30.
Nwodim is a native of Baltimore and a graduate of the University of Southern California. She has a B.S. in Biology. She's 0. She celebrated this milestone in March. On the 12th of March she posted a slideshow of pics to her Instagram account and captioned it, "I turned 30. I got grown and sweat out my press in loving memory of my 20s. To everyone who turned with me. #wegonsee #didanoutfitchange #imgettingmoreratchetwithage."
2. UCB and other ventures
As of this month, Ego is still performing with Los Angeles' Upright Citizen's Brigade where she is a part of the Harold comedy troupe. She also has her own one-woman show called Great Black Women...and Then There's Me, and has appeared in Two Broke Girls, Law and Order; True Crime, Living Biblically, Adam Ruins Everything, Singularity and in the web series Galactic War Room.
3. Impressions
Of course every performer on SNL creates their own characters and does impressions. We can't wait to see what Ego brings to the show, especially since her one-woman show is all about her pretending to be a number of great black women. On March 24th, she posted to Instagram: "Great Black Women...and Then There’s Me goes up again TOMORROW at 8 pm at UCB Franklin. Come see dis freak pretend to be a bunch of great black women #oprah #gayle #stedman." We are so there for Oprah and Michelle Obama impressions by this beautiful and talented comedian.
4. Her first appearance
Ego will make her debut on Saturday Night Live during the season premiere on September 29th. Actor Adam Driver will host and Kanye West is the musical guest. West is expected to debut music from his upcoming album Yandhi on the show.
5. Other changes at SNL
Mikey Day, Melissa Villasenor, and Alex Moffat have been promoted from featured player to full cast members. Last year's newcomers Heidi Gardner and Chris Redd return as featured players. Four new writers have been added to the staff as well: Alison Gates, Alan Linic, Eli Mandel, and Bowen Yang. Michael Che, Colin Jost and Kent Sublette will return as co-head writers.
Amy Lamare is a Los Angeles based freelance writer covering entertainment, pop culture, beauty, fashion, fitness, technology, and the intersection of technology, business, and philanthropy. She is deeply devoted to her chocolate Labrador and an avid long distance runner. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook.