Jimmy Fallon was set on getting “Saturday Night Live” by the age of 25.
The late night talk show host opened up about what he would do if he didn’t land a part on the show by that time, during a candid interview with Steven Bartlett on “The Diary of a CEO” podcast.
“I was going to kill myself,” the “Fever Pitch” actor said.
“Were you actually?” Bartlett asked.
“Yeah,” Fallon answered. “I wrote that in something ― in some journal or something. If I don’t get on ‘Saturday Night Live’ by the age of 25, that I’ll kill myself.”
When Bartlett asked if Fallon was actually serious about what he’d written, he confirmed that he was.
“But again, I knew that I was going to be on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ so I guess I didn’t really mean it,” the actor said, clarifying that his statement then “wasn’t really a threat.”
“I think I said, ‘I will kill myself,’” he shared. “But I definitely said ― you know ― yeah, 25 was my thing.”
Fallon has revealed his intense drive to be on the show before, and said that his obsession with “SNL” started at an early age.
“I wanted to be Dana Carvey,” Fallon told Carvey and David Spade on their “SNL” podcast, “Fly on the Wall,” back in 2022. “That was my whole reason for getting on ‘Saturday Night Live.’”
“I was such an ‘SNL’ nerd, I would record it every single Saturday night and I would be by myself,” he shared on the podcast. “I didn’t want friends over, I didn’t want anyone around me, my parents ― I didn’t want anyone near me. I just wanted to study the show.”
Fallon ended up getting the show by his self-imposed deadline, and stayed on “SNL” for six seasons, from 1998 to 2004.
If you or someone you know needs help, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for mental health support. Additionally, you can find local mental health and crisis resources at dontcallthepolice.com. Outside of the U.S., please visit the International Association for Suicide Prevention.
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