基南·湯普森說，在犯了一系列“菜鳥錯誤”后，他差點退出《周六夜現(xiàn)場》

Kenan Thompson might be the longest-running Saturday Night Live cast member these days, but there was a moment early on where he seriously considered leaving it all behind.

凱南·湯普森可能是這些天來在《周六夜現(xiàn)場》中工作時間最長的演員了，但在節(jié)目開始的前一刻，他曾認真考慮過放棄這一切。

The comedian, who has been a mainstay on the series since he joined in 2003, reveals in his new memoir When I Was Your Age: Life Lessons, Funny Stories & Questionable Parenting Advice from a Professional Clown that a slew of mistakes during his first few years on the late-night sketch comedy show left him feeling like he was on the chopping block. 

自2003年加入該節(jié)目以來，這位喜劇演員一直是該系列的主要人物。他在自己的新回憶錄《當(dāng)我在你這個年紀的時候:一個職業(yè)小丑的人生教訓(xùn)、有趣的故事和可疑的育兒建議》中透露，在他參加這個深夜喜劇小品節(jié)目的頭幾年里，一連串的錯誤讓他感覺自己被放在了砧板上。

In the tell-all, Thompson explains that his first few seasons were "marred by a ton of rookie mistakes," but that his true confidence “sunk to an all-time low” after he bombed a sketch called “Randy the Bellhop” so badly that it was cut from its respective episode, per PEOPLE. The bit featured Thompson as the titular bellhop who attempts to help Alec Baldwin and SNL alum Rachel Dratch get situated in their hotel room in “all the wrong ways.”

據(jù)《PEOPLE》雜志報道，湯普森在爆料中解釋說，他的前幾季“被大量菜鳥犯的錯誤給毀了”，但在他搞砸了一集名為“服務(wù)員蘭迪”的小品之后，他真正的信心“跌到了歷史最低點”。在劇中，湯普森飾演一名名義上的服務(wù)員，他試圖幫助亞歷克·鮑德溫和《周六夜現(xiàn)場》的瑞秋·德拉奇以“所有錯誤的方式”進入他們的酒店房間。

"I was excited for the first opportunity to showcase my chops on the big stage," he writes. "Thing was, I couldn’t make it through dress rehearsal. I stuttered over this one line and couldn’t ad-lib my way out of it." Unable to recover from the flub, Thompson writes that he quickly “spiraled into a full-on panic” that was so bad it led someone else to utter an “involuntary ‘Oh no!’” 

“第一次有機會在大舞臺上展示我的才華，我很興奮，”他寫道。“問題是，我無法通過彩排。我在這一行上結(jié)巴了，無法即興發(fā)揮。”由于無法從錯誤中恢復(fù)過來，湯普森寫道，他很快“陷入了全面恐慌”，這種恐慌非常糟糕，以至于其他人“不由自主地”發(fā)出了一聲“哦，不!’”

"If a slip up like that happened at Nickelodeon or in the movies I’d done, we could just do another take," Thompson notes. "At SNL, there was a lot riding on the live performance, obviously, and to no one’s surprise, the sketch didn’t make it to air."

湯普森說:“如果像這樣的失誤發(fā)生在Nickelodeon或我拍的電影里，我們可以再拍一次。”“在《周六夜現(xiàn)場》，現(xiàn)場表演顯然很重要，但不出所料，小品沒有播出。”

While T. Sean Shannon, the writer of the sketch was ultimately understanding about Thompson ruining the skit, the Good Burger 2 star writes that “he and every other writer avoided me like COVID” in the aftermath of the incident and that he thought he’d never “get a character of my own” again. 

雖然小品的作者t·肖恩·香農(nóng)最終理解了湯普森毀了小品，但這位《好漢堡2》的主演寫道，在事件發(fā)生后，“他和其他所有作家都像躲避COVID一樣躲避我”，他認為自己再也不會“擁有自己的角色”了。

“When the season finished, I didn’t even think I’d be asked back,” he writes. “I knew I needed to get better at writing my own characters, and prayed I’d get another season to take a stab at it."

“當(dāng)這一季結(jié)束時，我甚至沒有想過我會被邀請回來，”他寫道。“我知道我需要更好地寫我自己的角色，并祈禱我能再試一試。”

The good news: Thompson was brought back. The bad news was, however, that he frequently received “zero airtime during a show” and “almost quit” as a result. "I was like, 'What the hell am I doing here?’” he asks. “I was famous enough that people were trying to follow me off the subway, but I couldn’t get on the show.’

好消息是:湯普森回來了。然而，壞消息是，他經(jīng)常“在節(jié)目中沒有任何露面時間”，結(jié)果“幾乎辭職”。“我當(dāng)時想，‘我到底在這里做什么?’”他問道。“我太出名了，以至于人們都想跟著我下地鐵，但我上不了節(jié)目。”

The lack of opportunities led Thompson to wonder if there was “space at SNL for my kind of comedy.” Feeling let down, he says that he reached out to costar Maya Rudolph to ask why he was still on the show at all. He writes, “It was a no-brainer,' she said. 'We could tell you were ready and you’re adorable. We all said, ‘Obviously, it’s Kenan.'”

機會的缺乏讓湯普森懷疑“《周六夜現(xiàn)場》是否有適合我這種喜劇的空間”。他感到很失望，他說他找到了合作演員瑪雅·魯?shù)婪?，問他為什么還在節(jié)目中。他寫道，“這是一個不需要動腦筋的決定，”她說。“我們可以看出你已經(jīng)準備好了，你很可愛。我們都說，‘顯然是凱南。’”

Rudolph’s stamp of approval helped Thompson get back on his feet. "To be complimented by someone you admire was humbling and enlightening,” he says. “I wasn’t just a kid laughing at his own jokes in front of the mirror. I’d been validated."

魯?shù)婪虻恼J可幫助湯普森重新站了起來。他說:“被你欽佩的人稱贊是一種謙卑和啟發(fā)。”“我不只是一個對著鏡子笑自己的笑話的孩子。我得到了認可。”

With his newfound outlook, Thompson says that he began celebrating his costar's wins and "the show outside of myself." It all paid off in the long run, as he writes, "After being promoted to team player, I was in a cold open for the very first time screaming, 'LIVE FROM NEW YORK, IT’S SATURDAY NIGHT!' And let me tell you, that never gets old. It’s exciting every single time."

有了新的想法，湯普森說他開始慶祝他的搭檔的勝利和“我自己之外的節(jié)目”。從長遠來看，這一切都得到了回報，正如他所寫的，“在被提升為團隊成員后，我第一次在寒冷的開放環(huán)境中尖叫，‘紐約現(xiàn)場直播，這是周六晚上!’”讓我告訴你，這永遠不會過時。每一次都令人興奮。”