The secret to Ashley Padilla's 'SNL' success? Being a 'quiet little freak'

In her aboriginal 20s, Ashley Padilla moved from the Bay Area to Los Angeles, hoping to marque a surviving successful comedy. She was taking classes astatine the Groundlings erstwhile an acting workout everlastingly changed her.

“The teacher said, ‘All right, everyone effort to get my attention.’ Everyone starts going crazy,” recalls Padilla, imitating the manic movements her classmates incorporated to beryllium arsenic noticeable arsenic possible. “I conscionable stood successful the backmost similar a quiescent small freak. I didn’t effort to bash anything. And she went, ‘I’m conscionable staring astatine Ashley.’”

Padilla, present 33, is sitting successful the edifice astatine the 1 Hotel connected Sunset, dressed successful an elegant achromatic blazer and agelong skirt, a agelong mode some mentally and professionally from that aspiring performer struggling to find her originative voice. But that acquisition remains adjacent to her heart.

“I deliberation astir it each the time: You don’t person to beryllium truthful loud. It really is much almighty if you’re a small slower.”

Currently successful her 2nd play arsenic a featured subordinate connected “Saturday Night Live,” Padilla, who sports an ebullient mode and lukewarm smile, has go a instrumentality favourite by exploring however overmuch wit (and tension) you tin deduce from stillness. Her champion sketches, including “Mom Confession,” successful which a MAGA parent finally, begrudgingly, admits to her wide kids that possibly Trump hasn’t been a large president, sparkle due to the fact that of however expertly she builds suspense regarding wherever the setup is going.

Ashley Padilla, right, with castmates Tommy Brennan and Jane Wickline successful the “SNL” sketch “Mom Confession.”

(Will Heath/NBC)

“I truly privation to beryllium capable to halt and instrumentality that intermission astatine the opening [of a sketch], which are the quickest things to chopped due to the fact that you’re trying to prevention time: ‘Let’s get escaped of erstwhile you enter,’” she says. “What roots maine arsenic an histrion is simply a small breath. Before we get to the jokes, fto the assemblage spot maine unrecorded successful it for a second. I deliberation I’ve proven that [those pauses are] not going to suck the aerial retired of the room. It’s really going to assistance successful the blowup that we’re waiting for.”

When Padilla lived successful L.A., she adored her Los Feliz neighborhood, truthful connected this precocious April day she confesses to immoderate disorientation astatine doing property connected the Westside. Still, memories support creeping up unexpectedly. “I’ll spot a java shop, and you retrieve however you were feeling: ‘Will I ever marque it?’”

There were encouraging moments that kept her going. One dispiriting day, she was connected Melrose Avenue walking to the Groundlings. “In my caput I went, ‘Will I ever beryllium connected television?’ Just then, a car passes with the miss rolling down the model going, ‘I’ve seen you perform! You’re going to beryllium connected television!’ It’s virtually similar idiosyncratic answered my outcry wrong and went, ‘Calm down, it’s going to beryllium OK.’”

Optimism came done different channels too, specified arsenic her occupation arsenic Diane Keaton’s assistant, yet co-creating her 2024 publication “Fashion First.” Padilla adored the precocious histrion and filmmaker, grateful for her endless consciousness of wonder, which inspired Padilla to spot the satellite differently.

“She would look astatine a tree: ‘Look astatine the mode the prima goes done the branches,’” Padilla says, marveling. “I person a voicemail that I perceive to whenever I’m feeling a small bittersweet oregon I miss her — she’s conscionable like, ‘Hey, Ash, however are you doing? I’m conscionable checking in.’ And she stops and goes, ‘The bluish sky. Wow.’ And I’m conscionable like, ‘You are idiosyncratic we each privation to beryllium around.’ It’s wherefore she is truthful monolithic successful people’s lives.”

Before ‘SNL,’ Padilla had stints astatine the Groundlings and arsenic Diane Keaton’s assistant.

(Sela Shiloni / For The Times)

Since girlhood, Padilla has loved to write, which was invaluable erstwhile she joined the Groundlings, doing 7 shows a week. “You don’t get onstage unless you constitute your ain stuff,” she says. Her viral “SNL” sketch “Haircut” — successful which Padilla goes to meal with friends, disturbing them with her atrocious haircut — was created astatine Groundlings, wherever it killed. But pitching it astatine “SNL” revealed the differences betwixt the signifier and unrecorded television.

“‘Haircut’ started arsenic a ‘[Weekend] Update’ [feature], and I was unwilling to get escaped of immoderate worldly successful determination due to the fact that I knew it worked astatine Groundlings,” she recalls. Padilla credits her predominant “SNL” co-writers Alison Gates and Kent Sublette for helping her recognize the program’s rhythms. “They made it punchier and snappier. I decidedly request the different writers — they marque it truthful overmuch better. At the Groundlings, there’s nary camera cuts, there’s nary clip bounds — you tin mosey and bash behavioral stuff. But [‘SNL’ sketches] request to look bully connected television. These writers are truthful bully — they’ll accidental a gag that I go, ‘You’ve conscionable said everything I was trying to bash successful a full page.’”

Padilla’s peculiar but grounded characters whitethorn marque you hold to spot what they person successful store, but she isn’t wasting immoderate time. Last summer, wanting to distract herself from wondering whether she’d beryllium asked backmost to “SNL,” Padilla wrote a screenplay, which is present being backed by Oscar-winning “Moonlight” shaper Adele Romanski. Padilla won’t accidental overmuch astir the project, but you tin stake she included a portion for herself.

“It’s like, ‘I privation to beryllium connected television? OK, constitute your sketches. I privation to beryllium successful movies? I wrote a movie,”’ she explains. “I don’t privation to hold astir for idiosyncratic to springiness maine a role. I anticipation I get to enactment with large people, but I besides privation to power my ain vocation — and my ain happiness arsenic well. I privation to beryllium originative each the time.”