Paula Pell Suspected SNL Refused Her Cast Role Due to Weight

What was said

"I do suspect that I was a big lady. I was a big plus-size person. There would— there was, there was just not that in any TV anything. I was just not of the aesthetic of that place whatsoever. I do suspect that it wasn't even like, 'Oh, no, but her writing. I like her writing 'cause that fits with us.'"

Paula Pell, SNL's longest-tenured female writer, revealed she believes she was hired as a writer rather than cast member in 1995 because of her size. Despite being a trained performer who auditioned with characters, she suspects the show's aesthetic standards at the time prevented her from being considered for on-camera work, leading to years of suppressing her performance ambitions.