Bowen Yang explains how ‘turning point’ phone call with Lorne Michaels affected ‘SNL’ exit

Bowen Yang says Lorne Michaels delayed his “Saturday Night Live” exit last year in a “turning point” phone call.

While chatting with Rachel Sennott for a new Variety interview, published Monday, the comedian recalled receiving a call from the NBC sketch show creator while attending the US Open in August 2025 — and feeling “resolute” about quitting.

“He was like, ‘Listen, you should come back,’” Yang, 35, said during the “Actors on Actors” sit-down.

He noted that Michaels, 81, wanted help mentoring the latest batch of cast members he’d hired for Season 51.

“It’s a lot of new kids … a lot of people left, a lot of people are coming in,” Michaels allegedly said at the time. “You should be there to set an example for them, at least in the first half of the season. I’m telling you, it would be very important.”

Yang, who called Michaels “really good at closing” situations, noted, “It was the first time I felt someone who made so many things possible for me being like, ‘I need you.’”

The Emmy nominee was “not going to turn that down” and “felt good about” his chance to help “till the soil.”

Yang, who joined the show as a writer in 2018 and became a featured player the following year, announced his departure mid-season in December 2025.

“i loved working at ‘SNL.’ … i’m grateful for every minute of my time there,” he wrote via Instagram. “thank you to lorne for the job. for the standard. and for bringing everyone at work together.”

A source also told us at the time, “Everyone tried to get Bowen to stay, from Lorne down. But he just made up his mind, he was over it. He was not happy, you could tell.”

Yang explained the shock decision to Sennott, 30, on Monday.

“There was a lot of uncertainty about what the show would look like after Season 50,” the actor said. “I was like, ‘I think the show is in a great place without me.’”

The “Wicked” star, moreover, “never felt like [he] was that central” to “SNL” and felt there was a “weird utility” to his role.

“I never played the dad or the straight-man teacher,” he pointed out. “I was always there as the seasoning.”

Yang was quick to clarify, “[I was like], ‘That’s great. I’m so lucky. I can’t believe I have a steady job in comedy.’”

He “will cherish” his time on the show “for the rest of [his] life” — and remembered “sobbing” like a “f–king mess” during his final table read.