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Does Bowen Yang Feel Pressure When Playing LGBTQ+ Characters on SNL?

Does Bowen Yang Feel Pressure When Playing LGBTQ+ Characters on SNL?

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The Emmy nominee opens up about portraying the queer community in hilarious and authentic ways. 

Saturday Night Live star and Emmy nominee Bowen Yang is opening up about the pressures of portraying LGBTQ+ characters and their experiences in authentic, funny ways on one of network television's longest-running and beloved sketch comedy series.

Joining host Andy Lalwani on Revry's weekly queer-centric news series Culture Q, the out comedian also discusses a wide range of other important and timely topics, like how he and his fellow SNL castmates reacted to the horror of the Atlanta spa shootings.

"The Pride Month sketch we wrote for the finale last season was one where we were like, 'Let's just make sure we're being honest about how people feel about Pride,'" Yang told Lalwani about last season's Pride-themed sketch that hilariously skewered the LGBTQ+ community's favorite (and least favorite) time of the year.

He continued:

"Of course we're not going to be able to nail down every single person's experience around Pride, there's going to be something that's missing, but that was one thing where we didn't feel pressure, we just wanted to make sure we weren't being dishonest about what that experience is."

Yang is also fresh off receiving the Visibility Award at Revry's QueerX Awards, with other recipients of QueerX awards including actress Cassandra Peterson (a.k.a. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark) and Pose alum and fellow Emmy nominee Michaela Jae (Mj) Rodriguez.

Watch the trailer for Bowen Yang's Culture Q interview below. And catch the full interview this Thursday, October 28 at 5pm PST on Revry.

RELATED | Watch SNL's Bowen Yang Kill It as Gay Oompa Loompa, Daddy Long Legs

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