Bowen Yang can understand why The White Lotus standout Aimee Lou Wood was hurt by Saturday Night Live’s parody of the HBO hit.
“However she reacted to that sketch is completely valid,” Yang, 34, told Extra on Thursday, April 17, at the Los Angeles premiere of his new movie, The Wedding Banquet. “You kind of forget the sort of human, emotional cost that it sort of extols on someone.”
He added, “You need those reminders every now and then that parody can go too far sometimes, and that we as comedians can take account for that instead of banging our foot and saying that, like, we should be allowed to say whatever we want because that’s just the culture.”
SNL aired a political skit parodying The White Lotus during its April 12 episode, during which cast member Sarah Sherman wore fake teeth to resemble Wood’s own gap.
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“I did find the SNL thing mean and unfunny,” Wood, 31, wrote via her Instagram Stories several hours later. “Such a shame ‘cuz I had such a great time watching it a couple weeks ago. Yes, take the piss for sure — that’s what the show is about — but there must be a cleverer, more nuanced, less cheap way?”
In a follow-up slide, Wood revealed that she had since heard “apologies from SNL” without sharing specific details.
Yang did not appear in the skit, which featured episode host Jon Hamm and cast members James Austin Johnson, Chloe Fineman, Marcello Hernandez and Andrew Dismukes. The Wicked star further stressed on Thursday that the comedians were all fans of The White Lotus and Wood’s character of Chelsea, in particular.
“We just think that she should be so proud of the work that she put into this season,” Yang added.
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In addition to starring on weekly episodes of SNL, Yang has been bolstering his acting credits with roles in several hit blockbusters. His most recent project is a remake of Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet.
“I first saw the movie in college, so well after it had come out. I was obviously familiar with Brokeback Mountain, but then it was in college that I kind of wanted to do my homework on Lee as a filmmaker,” Yang exclusively told Us at the L.A. premiere. “And watching this was very, very resonant because I was also hiding a big part of my life from my parents, as well.”
He added, “The original movie ends on this really uncertain note where he says goodbye. … They haven’t fully accepted him as a gay man, but it still ends in a gesture of love. They still embrace, and that gave me hope for the future, that I could have an honest life with my family. And so, to check in with it now, as we release this version of it, is really beautiful and touching because that came to pass. I have a really beautiful relationship with my parents about my queerness and so that is the resonance that the original movie has that I hope people can contextualize with what an amazing journey it is.”
