Parting Shot

Aidy Bryant

Saturday Night Live’s Aidy Bryant is very Busy; when she’s not Brilliantly portraying characters on SNL, she’s producing and starring in Shrill on Hulu (final season premieres May 7). “There’s a lot of juicy new fun,” Bryant says about the season. Based on the bestselling book by Lindy West, Bryant plays Annie, a plus-size woman on a mission of personal growth that has nothing to do with her size. “I feel really proud that we gave a fat character a lot of dignity.” Like her character, Bryant says she too made an active choice to not lean into shame. “In college I was kind of like, ‘Oh I see these cool young women who are not hating themselves, and I want to be like that.’ Things got quite a bit better for me and it was mostly because I was less hard on myself.” She sees positive changes at SNL, too. “When I first started, it wasn’t as typical to see women play men. It kind of opens up this freedom of just who’s got the vibe and who can do it.” Watch her as Ted Cruz and there’s no doubt about it: she can do it.

What can people expect from the final season of Shrill?

This final season gets her to a better place. She’s finally taking herself out on the town and being okay with “What if I actually put myself out there without diminishing myself and hating myself?”

How do you relate to Annie and her struggles?

I relate to so much of it. It takes time to change the culture, but you can decide what you find valuable. To be fed up and decide to actively try and change your line of thinking, that touches every single place: work, home, love, friendships, all of it, and that fully happened to me.

With Annie’s story coming to an end, what do you hope people take from the series?

The number one thing I hear is how meaningful it was for people to see a fat person in the lead of a show who had a fully dynamic life. We never saw her get on a scale and sigh. I think that’s important to see.

How do you feel about being so associated with your SNL character Lil’ Baby Aidy?

When I first started on SNL I was like 25, so I was kind of the baby of the cast. Sometimes I’ll be on a plane or something and someone will be like “Lil’ Baby Aidy!” and I’m like, “No, I’m a 33-year-old woman with like four bags and in America’s biggest jacket.” [laughs] —H. Alan Scott

“I feel really proud that we gave a fat character a lot of dignity. We never saw her get on a scale and sigh.”