Chloe Troast Says NJ Roots Helped Launch Her Comedy Career

When Chloe Troast, a 27-year-old actress who grew up in Ho-Ho-Kus, joined Saturday Night Live in 2023, New Jerseyans were thrilled to see one of our own making us laugh. But when Season 50 premieres next month, Troast won’t be among the cast.

“Unfortunately I was not asked back to SNL this season,” she wrote in an Instagram post this week. “I wish I was going back to be with all the amazing friends I made there, it truly felt like home. But it wasn’t in the cards.”

Since the announcement, fans have rallied around Troast with messages on social media like, “literally just talked to my therapist about how wrong it is for SNL to fumble chloe troast so hard.” and “Choe Troast was such as standout from last season. Really surprised she wasn’t asked back.” On a positive note, loyalists can see the actress on the stage and screen. She completed her comedy tour this summer and appears in the HBO Max feature film Sweethearts, which comes out November 28.

Prior to this week’s news, New Jersey Monthly sat down for a chat with the actress about her New Jersey upbringing, her early interest in comedy and what she loves watching on TV. At the time this interview was conducted, we (and Troast) did not yet know that she wouldn’t be returning to SNL this season.

How did you become interested in sketch comedy?
I became interested in high school. A teacher asked if I’d ever heard of the Upright Citizens Brigade (a comedy theater and comedy school in New York City) and I hadn’t, so at the end of my junior year of high school I would take the train into the city and take UCB classes. I saw so much improv and sketch that summer and caught the bug.

How did growing up in New Jersey influence you as a performer?
Growing up in New Jersey was super formative. Being so close to the city, I was lucky to see shows in New York with my parents. There are so many professional actors that live in New Jersey and teach classes and run theater camps. We’re really spoiled being so close to New York, the opportunities to see and meet and learn from the best is unlike anywhere else. I also just love New Jersey. I love the people of New Jersey. I grew up with a lot of funny people. They taught me everything I know. I did tons of theater in high school. I went to Northern Highlands but I ended up doing all my theater at the all-boys’ school St. Joseph’s. They let any girls from the surrounding area audition for their shows. I give so much credit to that place for shaping me as a performer. I met the most talented people there. Also Saddle River Youth Theater was probably the place I did the most shows of my life. That’s where I fell in love with theater.

What was the Saturday Night Live audition process like?
The audition for the show was super surreal. I auditioned and screen-tested last year, and then I was like, ‘Well that was all I could have ever hoped for!” and then they asked me back to screen test and I was like, “Ok!” Then it happened. Both times were the two most nerve-wracking days of my life. Walking out there and performing on the stage that you only see on TV, it makes you kinda black out. But once you hear the first chuckle out of the people in the room watching, you’re like, “Oh this is just a show, pretend it’s just a show!”

What is the writers’ room process look at Saturday Night Live?
The writing process is interesting. Most everything that appears on the show Saturday was started on Tuesday of that week. Writers and cast will pitch ideas on Tuesday afternoon. We usually take all night writing sketches. Then on Wednesday, we get up early, edit the sketches and send them off to the producers. The producers pick about 40 sketches to read at table. And we spend the entire afternoon/evening reading 40 sketches with the host. Some things score, some things flop. Then they pick the best 13 or so, and we rehearse and edit them until dress rehearsal on Saturday. Then between dress and air about three things get cut. And that’s kinda the whole thing.

Who are your favorite past or current members from SNL? Who has inspired you?
I feel like the crew of people with Fred Armisen, Bill Hader and Kristin Wiig was the era of the show that I watched growing up and definitely had the most impact on me. I was super into Documentary Now and Portlandia at the same time, and those ventures really inspired me. There are also so many legendary women from the show that I am in awe of: Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, the list goes on.

Favorite sitcoms? Favorite shows on TV right now?
I grew up watching SpongeBob pretty religiously. It has affected me deeply. I sorta think in cartoons. I was also a big musical theater person, so I was deeply into (Stephen) Sondheim and stuff at a young age. I was also a YouTube kid—I spent many nights watching makeup tutorials and stuff. Favorite show out now—I loved Stath Lets Flats (on HBO Max), an amazing hybrid of scripted and improvised TV. And, honestly, I loved Succession because it was serious and all that, but also because it was genuinely funny. The show wanted you to laugh at people’s struggles sometimes and I love that.

Have you written any sketches for the show? If so, which are you most proud of?
I’ve written a few sketches this year that have made it on! Which is really crazy and cool. Probably the one I’m most proud of is Little Orphan Cassidy, which was my first sketch on. It felt like something that was so me, and so weird, and I couldn’t believe it was happening every time it kept getting closer to being on air. I was like, how is this happening? I definitely kinda blacked out during that, too.

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