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Aubrey Plaza -

Aubrey Plaza finally got her time to shine on 'SNL' by hosting an episode in January 2023. 'The White Lotus' star revealed that she auditioned for 'SNL' early in her career and got rejected. In an interview on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,' Plaza explained her unsuccessful audition tactic. "I remember one character I did was like a Puerto Rican news reporter that was always trying to make all of the news stories sexy, even if they were horrific news stories. I was just trying to like, sex up the news or something.” Her second character was “a pill-popping housewife that had a show called ‘Celebri-Tails,’ where I would just name celebrities and name what kind of tail they would have if they had a tail." Apparently, her skits didn't pass muster with Lorne Michaels! 

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Lisa Kudrow -

In the 1990s, Lisa Kudrow was part of LA-based improv and sketch-comedy school The Groundlings. The founder of the school had reportedly put in a good word for Kudrow to Lorne Michaels, but Michaels ended up picking Julia Sweeney over her.

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Lisa Kudrow - Years later, Michaels told Vanity Fair that he thought Kudrow's audition was "brilliant," but he knew she wasn't a fit for the series at the time. Kudrow was crushed and told Vanity Fair she thought maybe good things were never going to happen for her. Then she landed the biggest role of her life on 'Friends,' and she ended up hosting 'SNL,' too.

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Jim Carrey -

A staff member rejected Carrey's audition for the 1980-1981 season, and 'SNL' executive producer Lorne Michaels told Vanity Fair that he never even got to see it!

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Jim Carrey -

Despite the rejection, Carrey obviously went on to become a comedic genius in numerous films, and he'd even return to host 'SNL' on several occasions. Most recently, he played then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for six episodes.

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Donald Glover -

The multi-talented star famously auditioned for 'SNL' twice, and was rejected twice as well.

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Donald Glover -

Though he didn't make the cut, he went on to become a successful actor, writer, producer, and musician, not to mention one of the few stars to both host and perform as musical guest on 'SNL,' which he did in 2018.

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Stephen Colbert - In an interview with GQ, Stephen Colbert said he was rejected as a cast member in 1992. However, he did later become part of the show through writing and voiceover work, including on one of the show's most popular cartoons, 'The Ambiguously Gay Duo,' opposite Steve Carell.

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Stephen Colbert -

Of course, Colbert went on to become famous for his political-comedy persona on Comedy Central's 'The Daily Show' and 'The Colbert Report.'

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Kathy Griffin -

Another member of The Groundlings, Kathy Griffin was also rejected by Lorne Michaels at the same time that Kudrow was.

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Kathy Griffin -

Both Kudrow and Griffin admitted the loss felt immense back then, and though Griffin jokes about not being over it, she has built quite a reputation for herself as a famous comedian in her own right.

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John Goodman -

Actor John Goodman reportedly auditioned for 'SNL' back in 1980 when producer Jean Doumanian was in charge. He obviously wasn't cast.

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John Goodman -

Goodman's rejection freed him up for a major role on ABC's 'Roseanne.' He soon became a household name with a successful career in both TV and film, and he ended up hosting 'SNL' more than a dozen times!

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Mindy Kaling -

On 'The Last Laugh' podcast, Mindy Kaling said that during season two of 'The Office' she was offered a chance to audition for 'SNL,' and that 'The Office' showrunner Greg Daniels agreed to let her out of her contract if she was offered a role. She went to the audition but was rejected.

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Mindy Kaling -

Kaling was, however, offered a writer position on 'SNL,' and she wanted to take it, but Daniels said that this wasn't the deal they'd made. So, Kaling stayed with 'The Office,' which in retrospect defined her whole career.

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Zach Galifianakis -

For the 'SNL' 40th-anniversary special, they released a compilation of audition tapes of cast members and now-famous rejections, one of which was a pre-beard Zack Galifianakis who auditioned in 1999.

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Zach Galifianakis - The actor told GQ that after not making the cut, he worked as a part-time writer for the show for two weeks. After his stint there, he went on to become a massive comedy star, with hit films like 'The Hangover' (2009) and TV roles like the lead on 'Baskets.'

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Kevin Hart - Kevin Hart has often talked about how bad his 'SNL' audition was, like in his 2013 opening monologue on his first time hosting the show. He said that for his audition he did an impression of Robert De Niro using only facial expressions and an impression of Denzel Washington from 'Training Day'(2001) despite never seeing the film.

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Kevin Hart -

After being rejected, he really shaped up his act and soon became famous for his stand-up comedy and comedic film roles.

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Jennifer Coolidge -

Another member of the improv-comedy school The Groundlings, Jennifer Coolidge was invited to audition along with her group-mates Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan, and Cheri Oteri back in 1995. Unfortunately, she was the only one of the group who was not cast.

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Jennifer Coolidge -

In 2004, she told Los Angeles Magazine, that it was probably for the best because she doesn't think she could have handled the mental stress of being on the show. Since then, she made her name in popular films like 'American Pie' (1999) and 'Legally Blonde' (2001), and more recently, became the breakout star of the hit show 'The White Lotus.' 

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Paul Reubens - Another member of The Groundlings, Paul Reubens had perfected his Pee-Wee Herman character before his 'SNL' audition for the 1980 season. But, he told Entertainment Weekly in 2006 he knew he wouldn't get cast as soon as he saw actor Gilbert Gottfried in the audition room, as they have very similar acts.

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Paul Reubens -

He was rejected, but it spurred him on to produce his own comedy series, 'The Pee-wee Herman Show,' and everything worked out better than anticipated.

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Marc Maron - In 1998, a young Marc Maron wrote an article about his meeting a couple years prior with Lorne Michaels to talk about taking over the 'Weekend Update' segment. He'd felt that the bowl of candy on Michaels' desk was a test, and decided to take one.

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Marc Maron -

"As soon as I took the candy I swear to God Lorne shot a look at the head writer that clearly connoted to me that I had failed the test. I walked out of there thinking I ruined my career because of a Jolly Rancher. I don't even like Jolly Ranchers." Of course, Maron has enjoyed a career since then as a stand-up comic, writer, and podcaster.

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Kerri Kenney-Silver -

On Marc Maron's podcast, Kenney-Silver said that she auditioned for 'SNL' after MTV's sketch-comedy show 'The State,' was canceled. She said the audition was "terrifying," that she didn't get any laughs, and she ultimately wasn't cast.

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Kerri Kenney-Silver -

Kenney-Silver went on, however, to star on shows like Comedy Central's 'Reno 911!' instead.

Sources: (Vanity Fair)(GQ)(The Guardian)(GQ)(Entertainment Weekly)(Air America)(Los Angeles Magazine)

See also: Stars who were told they would never make it

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