Who Does 'SNL's' Ashley Padilla Remind Us Of?

This is going to feel like a weird, random post — and it is — but every time I see my favorite new SNL cast member, Ashley Padilla, show up in a sketch, she always reminds me of someone. I could never quite place it. I’ve been thinking about it, however, and I’ve concluded that she actually reminds me of three different people, depending on the sketch.

To wit: When she’s going all in on weird facial expressions - as she did a couple of weeks ago on the fart sketch (which may be the best sketch of this season, so far) - she reminds me most of Joan Cusack, someone with the ability to elicit laughter just in the way she contorts her face.

But if you put the facial expressions aside, her comic demeanor reminds me more of a young Elizabeth Perkins. She’s just naturally, effortlessly funny.

But this week, when she pulled out her new “Update” character with Andrew Dismukes — as a woman discussing politics right after a hook-up in Colin Jost’s office — there was more of a funny/sexy vibe that I might more closely associate with Isla Fisher.

Padilla has a lot of range is what I’m saying. She’s naturally funny; she gives good face; she can perform terrific physical comedy; and she can just as easily pull off flirty funny. She’s clearly the breakout star of the season, and an anchor the evolving cast can build itself around in the future. If they could just find the writers to match her comedic talent.