*Leslie Jones unpacks her SNL experience in her new memoir “Leslie F–king Jones,” and she claims working on the sketch comedy show came with unique challenges.
Jones, 56, joined SNL in 2014 and was the oldest person to be cast on the show at the time at age 47, Urban Hollywood 411 reports.
Over five seasons, Jones told NPR she was relegated to playing a “caricature” of a loud Black woman.
“They take that one [trope] and they wring it. They wring it because that’s the machine. So whatever it is that I’m giving that they’re so happy about, they feel like it’s got to be that all the time or something like that,” she said. “So it was like a caricature of myself. … Either I’m trying to love on the white boys or beat up on the white boys, or I’m doing something loud.”
Several cast members on the show felt pigeonholed, according to Jones.
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“I was talking to another cast member that retired and they said, ‘But in fairness, that’s how they do all of them. Not just the Black ones,’” Jones recalled. “I look back and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s right, Taran Killam!’ Taran wanted to do so much other stuff, but they would only have Taran in those very masculine [roles] and singing and stuff and I said, “Oh! This is a machine.”
Jones left SNL in 2019 and gave a shout-out to show creator Lorne Michaels for “being my mentor and confidant.”
“Lorne Michaels, you’ve changed my life in so many ways! Thank you for being my mentor and confidant,” Jones stated at the time. “You not only have my loyalty but you have my heart too! You have shown me skills I never imagined I had. I leave a better performer because of you. To the incredible cast members: I will miss working, creating and laughing with you.”
Elsewhere in her memoir, Jones revealed that she had three abortions by her mid-twenties. In the book, she credits Planned Parenthood for saving her life.
“Prevention is what we should be teaching. If I’d even had an inkling of how to protect myself… I didn’t know any of that stuff. By my mid-twenties, I had had three abortions, and I thought, This is not a birth control method,” Jones wrote.
“Planned Parenthood saved my life,” she said. “I still give money to them to this day. When I went to Planned Parenthood, I finally learned how to prevent pregnancies and take care of myself.”
READ MORE: Leslie Jones Talks Child Sex Abuse and 3 Abortions in New Memoir
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