Being funny may come easy for Kate McKinnon, but her road to a coveted spot on SNL wasn’t. The actress had lots of interests – including being a musician, a painter, and a professor- before pursuing a career in comedy.

“I thought, ‘if I could get a job as a comedian it will be easy,’ but it wasn’t easy,” McKinnon told us in an interview. It was her Saturday Night Live audition that she described as “the scariest thing she has ever done” that eventually led to her being one of the most recognizable faces in the current lineup on NBC’s late night weekend program. Now working in her “dream job” and quickly gaining recognition for her spot-on impressions of celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres and Theresa Caputo from TLC’s “Long Island Medium,” McKinnon says she wants to eventually explore other avenues of the entertainment industry, including being in a movie and perhaps writing one.

For the whole interview, and to hear more from McKinnon– including which former SNL cast member’s house she would clean just for a chance to hang out with them— check out our video below:

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