Was Danny McBride Almost An 'SNL' Cast Member?

Danny McBride exploded onto the scene in a way I’ll remember forever. I first saw him in a faux documentary on the Knocked Up special features (special features used to rule, man). He was presented as a replacement for Seth Rogen’s character but couldn’t stop being crass and annoying Katherine Heigl. Not only was he funny, I assumed he was good people if he was doing stuff with the Apatow crew (not the most accurate barometer, I know). Shortly after, I learned about The Foot Fist Way.

The karate comedy was McBride’s breakout role (as well as a launching pad for his friends Jody Hill and Ben Best, the latter of whom unfortunately passed in 2021). The marketing for the film hooked me the most. A trailer touted that the movie had been passed to Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, who proceeded to watch it twenty times. They loved it so much they wanted to share it with the world, so they helped get it distributed. This is not an uncommon practice, but it was my (knowing) experience.

Ferrell and McKay would go on to produce Eastbound & Down, one of my favorite shows of all time. That is the show that raised McBride’s profile even further. It cemented him as a comedy genius and Kenny Powers would become his most recognizable character. The show ran for four seasons and was so successful that people were ready to believe when a s***ty fan-made trailer announced the show’s return on Twitter a few years back (myself included). The show is such a pillar of McBride’s career, it’s wild to think things could have gone differently.

One of McBride’s earlier roles was on the Andy Samberg comedy Hot Rod. “When we were shooting Hot Rod, I met Bill Hader, Andy Sandberg, Akiva (Schaffer), and Jorma (Taccone) and all those guys,” McBride recently recalled on Theo Von’s This Past Weekend podcast. “And they were just coming off their first year of SNL. And so it was cool. I liked those guys.” He then revealed that word of his talents got back to the higher-up (there’s only really one) at Saturday Night Live.

“Lorne actually prodded me to see if I was interested in joining the cast,” McBride explained. “But it was really the same exact week that we sold Eastbound & Down. And so I was like, as much as I’m flattered, this is what I’m gonna go off and do.” The Righteous Gemstones star also noted that he is a huge fan of the show, so it was hard to turn down, especially since he’s never been asked to host. But he watches and very much enjoyed Shane Gillis’ recent turn hosting the show. So that’s … something.