WICKED STARS: Bowen Yang on His Extraordinary Rise and the Movie Musical Magic of ‘Wicked’

Summary

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Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist — Episode Summary

WICKED STARS: Bowen Yang on His Extraordinary Rise and the Movie Musical Magic of ‘Wicked’

Date: November 9, 2025
Host: Willie Geist
Guest: Bowen Yang (SNL star, actor, and podcast host)

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Episode Overview

This episode features an in-depth, candid conversation between Willie Geist and Bowen Yang, exploring Yang’s unique journey from an immigrant family to sketch comedy star, his pivotal role in the movie adaptation of "Wicked," and the intersection of his personal and professional lives. The discussion covers Bowen's cultural upbringing, his rise at "Saturday Night Live," personal challenges, and reflections on achieving dreams once only imagined.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Bowen’s Unique Upbringing and Identity Formation

• Background and Immigration:
  • Parents emigrated from China to Australia, then Montreal, Canada, then Aurora, Colorado. (00:54–03:00)
  • Multicultural household—exposed to Mandarin, French, and English by school and family life. (13:14)
• Cultural Context:
  • Father grew up in rural poverty in Inner Mongolia; contrasts with Bowen’s suburban American life. (15:01)
  • Navigated Chinese traditions at home vs. American pop culture externally. (15:54)

    “I don’t think they were ever in conflict, especially now that I’m older. I feel like they were just balances. They were counterweighing each other...” —Bowen Yang (16:03)

2. Early Passion for Comedy and SNL

• SNL as Cultural Touchstone:
  • Used SNL to “gather information” and feel closer to American culture and New York City. (19:13)

    “SNL was my lifeline in terms of knowing what was up...made New York feel so close because New York felt so far away.” —Bowen Yang (19:13)

• Comedy Improvisation:
  • Began performing improv as a young teen in Denver, gaining crucial experience with failure and resilience. (21:11)

    “You realize that you’re okay in the end. You didn’t die. Right. You’re okay. And that’s a valuable thing to learn, especially if you work at SNL...” —Bowen Yang (21:45)

3. Personal Struggles: Coming Out and Family Expectations

• Coming Out Experience:
  • Parents were shocked, leading to conversion therapy as a condition to attend NYU. (23:21)
  • Struggle to navigate identity and personal truth through early adulthood. (25:14)

    “Identity is this really fickle thing. Like, you know, it’s not something that you arrive at until much later in life, I think.” —Bowen Yang (25:14)

4. Finding Community and Breaking Through

• College and Comedy:
  • NYU was a launchpad, with improv group as key social lifeline. (26:19)
  • Skipped med school applications to dive into NYC comedy scene, producing shows and building lasting relationships. (27:25)
• Podcasting with Las Culturistas:
  • Co-hosted with Matt Rogers, providing a major breakthrough and audience base before SNL. (28:25)
  • Created community and toured nationwide shows—critical for personal and career development. (29:35)

5. The SNL Story: Writer to Cast Member

• Long Audition & Vetting:
  • Multiple auditions over two years, first as a writer (2018), then cast member (2019). (30:32)
  • Lorne Michaels’ mentorship, ensuring Bowen understood the inner workings for greater success.

    “He said, ‘I knew... people will look at you in a very specific way because of who you are. And I needed to make sure you knew how the sausage was made, that you knew how things worked here so that I could set you up for success.’” —Bowen Yang (31:53)

• Lessons in Resilience:
  • Learning to handle public criticism and internal feedback, developing “thick skin.” (32:42)

6. Career Milestones and Memorable SNL Moments

• First SNL Sketch:
  • “Kim Jong Un” in the cold open; parents were present. (35:02)
• The “Iceberg” Sketch:
  • Landmark moment, leading to wider recognition and unexpected opportunities, like Will Ferrell emailing and Sandra Bullock inviting to a film. (37:21)

    “While the show was still on air... Will Ferrell emails me and he goes, ‘That was amazing. You need to do that every week.’” —Bowen Yang (37:46)

7. WICKED and the “Pinch Me” Moments

• The Wedding Banquet:
  • Discusses the remake, updating the original Ang Lee film for 2025, with layered themes of self-acceptance and fertility. (06:27)
  • Commentary on cultural resonance and how it paralleled Bowen’s own coming out journey. (08:38)

    “Watching this movie, having it be about this acceptance narrative for this main character... was extremely resonant for me.” —Bowen Yang (08:38)

• Landing Role in Wicked:
  • Emotional connection to the show, revisiting memories of longing for Broadway as a teen. (42:17, 53:05)
  • Intense filming experience, juggling SNL and movie shoots across the Atlantic, confronting burnout and self-worth. (44:35)

    “I wasn’t sure what I was bringing to either thing...Am I just a piece of furniture?...I value myself a lot. Other people value me in a way that I really appreciate. And I’m very, very glad I got through that, like, Ozzy experience.” —Bowen Yang (46:07)

• Oscars Moment:
  • Reflects on the fulfillment of boyhood dreams, symbolized by wearing his Wicked costume at the Oscars and return visits to the New York theater district. (42:17, 43:35, 53:05)

8. Dealing with Fame

• Incremental Rise:
  • Gradual transition into broader recognition, from podcast listeners to global fame with Wicked. (47:06)
  • Remains grounded, appreciating “normal” routines like buying baguettes at the grocery store. (48:18)

    “Also, my life is pretty much the same as it was 10 years ago...The entire baguette for myself.” —Bowen Yang (48:18)

9. Reflections at the Gershwin Theatre

• Returning to Where Dreams Began:
  • Bowen revisits the Broadway Blue Room and the Gershwin Theatre—where he once pressed his face against the glass as a young fan, now starring in the movie. (49:01, 53:05)

    “This felt so again, far away. And all that mattered was that I was close to it for just, like, a moment, you know?...And now, by God, he’s in the Wicked movies.” —Willie Geist (54:01)

• Discusses “cosmic” quality of his journey and paying tribute to the power of theater and connection. (50:17)

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• “Is this the official sort of sign that I am a little too comfortable [at SNL]?” —Bowen Yang (03:36)
• “What I remember from Montreal was just being in a place where there were so many different things coming at you.” —Bowen Yang (13:14)
• “If one thing had gone differently...things would have ended up so differently.” —Bowen Yang (36:57)
• “My parents just sort of stumbled upon something and they were like, ‘oh, we didn’t realize this is what we were dealing with. Where we come from, this doesn’t happen.’” —Bowen Yang on family discovering his sexuality (23:21)
• “He said, ‘I needed to make sure you knew how the sausage was made...so that I could set you up for success.’” —Bowen Yang, quoting Lorne Michaels (31:53)
• “[SNL] was pop culture boot camp. It was this digest, this weekly digest on what was happening in the world...” —Bowen Yang (19:13)
• “While the show was still on air... Will Ferrell emails me [about the iceberg sketch]...” —Bowen Yang (37:46)
• “I cannot believe that it culminated in me wearing my costume at the Oscars.” —Bowen Yang, on Wicked (42:17)
• “This is the theater where you came when you were 14 with your parents and pushed your face against the glass.” —Willie Geist (53:02)
• “All that mattered was that I was close to it for just, like, a moment.” —Bowen Yang, Gershwin Theatre (54:01)
• “I don’t get too rapid up in, like, my own mythology...But being here with you is, I think, gives it the right occasion to reflect on it and think, wow, that’s pretty amazing.” —Bowen Yang (54:48)

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Important Timestamps

• Introduction & Family Background: 00:54–04:22
• SNL Comfort & Weekly Rhythm: 03:05–05:17
• The Wedding Banquet Discussion: 06:27–10:32
• Montreal & Colorado Childhood: 13:14–15:52
• Comedy Beginnings & Improv: 21:08–22:55
• Coming Out and Parental Dynamics: 23:00–26:15
• College/NYC Comedy Scene: 26:19–28:01
• Las Culturistas Podcast Origins: 28:25–29:35
• SNL Auditions/Becoming Cast Member: 30:32–33:29
• First SNL Sketch & Family Reaction: 35:02–36:40
• “Iceberg” Sketch Breakthrough: 37:21–39:10
• Wicked & Broadway Memories: 42:17–44:35, 53:02–54:01
• Wrapping Up at Gershwin Theatre: 53:02–54:48

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Tone & Takeaways

The episode balances humor with emotional resonance, mirroring Bowen's self-effacing warmth and Willie Geist’s encouraging, conversational style. Listeners gain a window into how Bowen Yang’s early experiences and challenges shaped his creative vision, resilience, and humility, even as his reach and impact continue to grow on stages and screens worldwide.

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Transcript

[Audie Cornish]

Hey, friends, this is Audie Cornish, host of CNN this Morning and the Assignment. And guess what? Every story you care about, every angle you want unpacked is now streaming on cnn. That means you can catch my show or other CNN programming whenever you want on your favorite device. And a subscription also gets you access to exclusive video series and unlimited articles. So subscribe to [e-mail] subscription.

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[Willie Geist]

Hey, guys, Willie Geist here with another.

Episode of the Sunday Sit Down Podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and listening along. I am extraordinarily excited to bring you my conversation today with SNL star Bowen Yang, one of the funniest, smartest and most charming people you'll ever have the good fortune to sit down and have a conversation with. He's come so far in his life, I don't think most people realize he kind of burst onto the scene on Saturday Night Live. Of course, he's had movie roles, including most recently a huge role in Wicked and the second Wicked movie, Part two, that's coming out this Thanksgiving. But man, his parents are from China. They're immigrants to the United States. They actually went from China to Australia, then to Montreal and then to Aurora, Colorado, in the suburbs of Denver, where I think the breakdown and Bowen talks about it is he lived for only six months in Australia, then he lived from zero to nine in Montreal, nine to 18 and in Colorado, and then went to New York to go to school at nyu. But always kind of dreaming of performance. Loved snl. But his family, his father is from Inner Mongolia, literally grew up and lived as a young man in straw in mud huts. Bowen Yang is one generation removed from that. And he talks about his parents, who he loves but has a fraught relationship while he's growing up because he's gay. And that is not something that his.

Parents are ready to accept or come.

To terms with and in fact, try to help him change. You'll hear about that incredible part of the story, always with a good sense of humor about it. Just a really fun conversation. He's in a new film that is called the Wedding Banquet. It's a remake of a 1993 Ang Lee movie, and he'll tell you all about that. But obviously we talk about SNL 50, what it was like to be there the 50th anniversary. As a guy who grew up loving the show and now is on the show to be surrounded by the people he so looked up to for all those years. So I really think you're gonna enjoy spending a little time, as I did with Bowen Yang right now on the Sunday Sit down podcast. Bowen.

[Bowen Yang]

Willie.

[Willie Geist]

So happy to see you.

[Bowen Yang]

I am loving this. Casual Willie Geist. Lean back into your seat. This is. I'm getting the real you.

[Willie Geist]

You know, this is us at, like, a little lunch in town. Right.

[Bowen Yang]

I mean, I invited a bunch of people to come, and they should be here anyway.

[Willie Geist]

I know it's not as hot a spot as we thought it was.

[Bowen Yang]

I guess not.

[Willie Geist]

No, it's great. It's a great spot.

[Bowen Yang]

It's great.

[Willie Geist]

We love it.

I'm so happy to see you and thank you for doing this in the middle of an SNL week, because I think, as most people know, these are crazy weeks for you guys on the cast, I guess.

[Audie Cornish]

Is this.

[Bowen Yang]

Is this the official sort of sign that I am a little too comfortable there? Is that, like, it's no problem? Like, my first few seasons, anything on my schedule for Tuesday would have been cataclysmic.

[Willie Geist]

Right.

[Bowen Yang]

And yet this is so relaxing and grounding for me, and I'm, like, looking forward to going into the office later. I don't know. This is all good. And this is maybe a sign that I've gotten too. I don't know, too complacent.

[Willie Geist]

Well, I think you're comfortable, which is a good thing. And you're not looking over your shoulder.

[Bowen Yang]

No.

[Willie Geist]

You're an established star of snl, which is nice.

[Bowen Yang]

Thank you. Established, which. That's such a wild word because I feel like no one. The whole story of that place is that no one, except for one person, feels comfortable there.

[Willie Geist]

Right.

[Bowen Yang]

And that one person is Kenan Thompson. No, it's Lorne Michaels and Kenan. Two people. Two people.

[Willie Geist]

Well, so this week, Jack Black is coming in to host the musical guests Elton John and Brandi Carlisle together. How exciting is it for you to go into a week like this where you just know it's gonna be a good show? You've got a comedian who knows what he's doing and two of the greatest artists.

[Bowen Yang]

I feel like you can sort of. There's a dissonance where you want to be able to push yourself and give these people your best, and then there's also this part of you that's like. But it would also be a great week if I just sat back and, like, relaxed and just Took this show in like the rest of the audience. And so that's sort of the thing about SNL is that it brings in all these different people from all different career vantages, and you get the benefit of just absorbing it. And I can't believe it.

[Willie Geist]

Do you still feel that pressure of today? You'll go in. You want to make sure you get something on the show you're writing, you're pitching, doing all those things.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes. That never goes away. I'm giving you such an inconsistent story here. Either I'm so comfortable or nothing's nothing. I'm panicked or I'm panicked. I think this week because it's Jack Black. Because that's someone who, like, was so confident and inviting and has been so confident in inviting his career. I feel like I just want to, like, give him something, you know? Like, Heidi Gardner and I were just talking yesterday about how excited we are for him. It's been 20 years since he hosted.

[Willie Geist]

It's amazing, isn't it? You figure he's the kind of guy who comes around every couple years.

[Bowen Yang]

Right.

[Willie Geist]

That makes him more special.

[Bowen Yang]

It makes it way more special. I feel like he has one of the most enviable careers, but also, like, no one else could have that career except him.

[Willie Geist]

Right.

[Bowen Yang]

I'm like, oh, right. He was in High Fidelity and he was in the Holiday and then he was in. You know, he's voiced every franchise ip, you know, like, he's a great entertainer in the truest sense.

[Willie Geist]

It's gonna be a great show. And I wanna talk more about your history with SNL in a little bit. But we've gotta start with the Wedding Banquet, which I just finished this morning. Is such a beautiful movie because it's funny, it's heartbreaking. It's all the things a really good movie can be. I think most people are not familiar with the history that in 1993 it was an Ang Lee film.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Willie Geist]

And that you guys have sort of updated it in some way. Is that a fair way to describe it?

[Bowen Yang]

That's the perfect. That's the most printable version of what we can say. No. Just because it's so convoluted what we've done with it now in a way that is hopefully inviting and appealing to people. But it's this kind of story that would only work now because it's a whole marriage plot, comedy of errors in the original. And we've updated it now so that it sort of tracks with this fertility journey that one of the couples is going through. And this, like, Sham marriage that has to be put up even though gay marriage is legal now. Not like it was back in the 90s. But it has all these really great check ins with how we feel about institutions like marriage in the year 2025. And I promise it's funny and it's not as academic as I'm making it sound.

[Willie Geist]

No, it's very funny. But it's also, I mean, there's some really powerful, difficult scenes. Do you enjoy stepping into that realm of acting because you're so known for comedy?

[Bowen Yang]

I do like that exercise and that challenge. I just feel like it is sort of the flipped version of what most people in showbiz say, which is they say, oh, comedy is the hardest thing. And I think the thing that I've taken for granted working at SNL is that, like, I am not that I'm great at it, but I'm just used to cracking the code on how to make something funny in every small, granular way that something big and dramatic and emotionally suffused like this, like this sort of dramedy is a little bit of a delayed learning experience for me. And I really like doing it and I hope I get to do it more.

[Willie Geist]

Did you have any relationship with the 1993 movie, whether growing up or later in your life where it spoke to you in some way?

[Bowen Yang]

Absolutely. I feel like I got my Ang Lee education in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, as did my parents. And then it wasn't until college that I would go through his filmography and I watched the Wedding Banquet. And this was when I was still in the closet with my parents, or I should say I was back in the closet with my parents. And then watching this movie, having it be about this acceptance narrative for this main character who is not brave enough to come out to his traditional Chinese parents, was extremely resonant for me. And it ends on this sort of somber but still hopeful note where he says goodbye to them at the airport after they find out about his life. And it kind of gave me this great sort of reality check, but also this vision and this fantasy for what might be possible in the future. And now my parents and I are very just steady and loving and generous with that part of my life. And I feel like that's also an amazing way for me to personally check in with this movie is that the last time I had any encounter with it, I was in a very different place. And it's really special to be part of the updated version.

[Willie Geist]

I mean, if you think about 32 years ago, there weren't many places, if any, for someone like you to see a story about who you were at the time, right?

[Bowen Yang]

Absolutely. And it gets to the point where, I mean, if we're gonna talk about, like, being on snl, like, I never had any vision for that. I never watched the show, even though I watched it every week. I never had the thought of, I'm gonna be on that show someday, because it just didn't seem close. It felt so far away. And just having this all sort of culminate in this movie. Being in something like Wicked, being at snl, just feels very surreal and also very gratifying at the same time.

[Willie Geist]

It's a wonderful cast.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Willie Geist]

People are gonna be very happy to see some familiar faces, maybe some new faces. What was the experience of making the film like for you? Because you've done Wicked, which is about as big as you can go. You've done snl, which is a totally unique experience. What was this film like for you?

[Bowen Yang]

This was a warm hug of a shoot, much like the film is a warm hug, and it's about family. I think the biggest compliment that my friend Matt Rogers has given to this film is that you can tell the layout of the house that they live in. That is how, like, intimate and inviting this is. But shooting it was so lovely. I met Lily Gladstone at 30 Rock at our beloved 30 Rock. She was doing Seth Meyers, and I went down to say hi to her. At that point, we had both been attached. She has this amazing story where she had a sibling who was. Let me take this again. She has this amazing story where her mother. Before Lily was born, her mother was going to have a son named August. The pregnancy did not come to term, unfortunately, but in indigenous culture, there's this concept of, like, star siblings and rainbow children. Lily's a rainbow child because she was. She was birthed into the world because of this son. And then my first season on snl, Lily Gladstone's mother is watching the TV and going, that's my son. She sees me on screen and she goes, that's your brother, Lily. Like, she just felt this sort of cosmic, metaphysical connection to me.

[Willie Geist]

Oh, my God.

[Bowen Yang]

And I didn't realize this until Lily and I had met that. Like, we're siblings already. Like, it made me sort of so, so touched. And it just made that experience of working with her and still being connected with her and still being friends with her so special. I got to meet Lily's parents. I think that's indicative of the whole experience of watching. Of doing the film, was that it was this familial experience, and that comes.

[Willie Geist]

Across on the screen, too. It's really a really beautiful film. Congratulations on it. Just hearing you talk about your own experience growing up, you really do see reflections of it in this movie. What were those? I mean, we were just talking about your journey, which is born in Australia, moved to Montreal when you're like, six months old. Then at nine, you moved to Aurora, Colorado, outside of Denver.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Willie Geist]

So you've had all these different sort of. And of course, your heritage is Chinese.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Willie Geist]

So you have all these different cultures in the mix.

[Bowen Yang]

Yep.

[Willie Geist]

So what was it like to be you growing up? We can start in Montreal. Assuming you don't recall Australia.

[Bowen Yang]

I don't.

[Willie Geist]

What was it like?

[Bowen Yang]

We still had Vegemite in the house, so there's that. What I recall from Montreal was just being in a place where there were so many different things coming at you. You had French culture coming at you. You had to learn French in school, but then you also had to learn English in order to sort of, like, get around. And on Sundays, you would go to Chinese school and learn Mandarin. Like, I was just this sponge that was kind of oversaturated with all of these different languages and cultural touchstones in terms of, like, you know, listening to Mandarin music in the house, but then going to school and talking about the Spice Girls with the other kids. Like, there was just this multitude of things that I was taking in. And I think that's probably shaped something about me now where I'm like, give it to me. Like, I'll take it all. Like, I love everything. I really feel like this maximalist in terms of what I like and what I want to play with and the things that I want to do. And that was what I remember most from Canada was just letting it all come to you. And I didn't have to go very far to, like, get. Get something interesting culturally. And then we moved to the suburbs of Colorado, where it was very, very different but very, very fun. It was where I started to love comedy, because you would get this syndication block of, like, the Simpsons Seinfeld, and then you'd watch SNL, you'd watch MADtv, you'd watch all these different comedy shows. And that felt like it was dovetailing off of the Canada experience of just, like, absorbing it. And those are the distinct things that.

[Willie Geist]

I think should go back one step further and say that your father lived. To call it rural poverty is to sort of understate what it was, I think. Right. He lived in mud and straw Huts and Inner Mongolia. This is one generation ago. So the cultural. I'm thinking about the cultural clash that was going on in your house, which is a very traditional Chinese family at home. And then you're out in the suburbs of America.

[Bowen Yang]

Right.

[Willie Geist]

Absorbing pop culture. And with that, I think you didn't even have cable. You were just watching these syndicated shows, right.

[Bowen Yang]

On network tv, kids, there were things called Bunny ears, Antenna.

[Willie Geist]

Yes.

[Bowen Yang]

On TV sets. And I would have to, like, orient it in such a crazy way. I was like, oh, I think the radio tower is, like, east of us. Like, I was so wild. But, yeah, it was a very manual experience for me to get my culture, you know?

[Willie Geist]

I remember. I remember.

And so how were those in conflict in your life? Would you say that traditional Chinese culture at home versus American popular culture that you were loving and absorbing?

[Bowen Yang]

I don't think they were ever in conflict, especially now that I'm older. I feel like they were just balances. They were counterweighing each other in the sense that, like, you could appreciate all this culture and then get this perspective that, like, oh, but there are things that are permanent. There are things that are built to last. And, like, family is one of those things. And something about snl, even back then, as I was watching it as a kid, I knew that it was this ephemeral, regenerative thing, recursive thing that, like, we're never gonna get the same show twice. And I don't know, conceptually, I know I'm getting a little deep, but, like, even back then, like, I knew that there were things that you had to, like, invest in for the future and things that you could enjoy in the present, and those are things that live alongside each other. And, yeah, I think that's the thing that I know now as an adult, is that, like, both of those things are valuable. Both of those ideas are things that kind of get you through.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah.

Maybe enrich each other a little bit, too, Probably. Yeah.

Hey, guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Bowen Yang.

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[Audie Cornish]

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[Willie Geist]

Welcome back. Now more of my conversation with Bowen Yang.

We were talking before we started about snl. There's just something about being a young kid. I grew up in the suburbs of New York and New Jersey. And it's late at night and it's Saturday and you're staying up later than you should probably stay up and you're making it all the way to one o' clock and then Showtime at the Apollo comes on after that. Maybe you watch a little of that to start as a young kid growing up in the suburbs. What was it about SNL that's so clicked with you? What did you love about it?

[Bowen Yang]

What I loved about SNL as a young kid in the suburbs was that it was pop culture boot camp. It was like this digest, this weekly digest on what was happening in the world and what was happening in entertainment. And especially moving to the US Having to like reprioritize my languages even. I was like, okay, French has to be on the back burner. I gotta beef up my English within a matter of like, weeks so that I can, like be sociable at school. Like, watching SNL was my way of gathering information so that I could go into the week at school and be like, oh, yeah, do you see what happened on like trl? Like, it was, it was that kind of thing. Like, I wasn't getting cable. SNL was my lifeline in terms of knowing what was up and something about watching SNL at home made New York feel so close because New York felt so far away. And I mean, there was just something in my bones that I felt about wanting to move here. And SNL just made it seem like the most fun, shimmering, glittery place that was still edgy and a little bit gross and gritty and still so mesmerizing. And something about SNL watching these people at good nights, like hug and congratulate each other over, you know, saxophone music just felt so mythical and mystical.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah. And then at some point you actually start to perform. Still keeping up your grades. Really good student. I don't know if I was a great student on a path to a great college. So you did something right. But you do find some, some of those theater people. You do find improv kids.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Willie Geist]

And you pursue that a little bit simultaneously, right?

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, in a way that is. I don't know if it's precocious or if it's ill conceived. I was going to like, like, I would go to like these improv theaters in downtown Denver that had like a liquor license. Like, what is a 14 year old kid doing there? My parents had no idea and I'm glad they didn't because they would not have allowed me. But yeah, you would go every Monday to the Bovine Metropolis Theater in Denver, Colorado. Bovine Metropolis Theater, which is a play on cowtown, of course, which I did not realize until I was 20s. It's right there. And you'd go there every Monday. You would just bomb in front of 30 year olds who were like, what are these teenagers doing here? And it got me, I think it kind of like inured me to something. It gave me this, it didn't give me chops, but it gave me this like armor in terms of like failing at comedy. Yeah. And I remember watching a Tina Fey interview where she says the greatest thing she learned from Second City was that you bomb regularly at improv because it's improv and, and you realize that you're okay in the end. You didn't die. Right. You're okay. And that's a valuable thing to learn, especially if you work at snl because every week feels like the most important week of your life. And if things don't go your way, it feels fatal. And you just have to build some mechanism to cope with the fact that it's fine, that it's okay, that it's things didn't go your way and that's fine. But you will rise above and figure it out the next time. And that's what I love about the show is that there are more chances of bad as long as you want to take them.

[Willie Geist]

Right. It's like, that didn't work. Let's do something else tomorrow, you know, Live to improv another day.

[Bowen Yang]

Exactly.

[Willie Geist]

So while this is all going on and you're kind of finding yourself with performance, you have this conflict at home. Right. Where you're starting to understand who you are.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Willie Geist]

And that's gonna be a difficult thing for your parents to know and to understand someday. How did you work through that as a teenager?

[Bowen Yang]

I didn't really get to work through it. I think I probably wasn't brave enough back then to express that or to package it in a way that they can understand because it felt completely foreign to. And it was completely foreign to them. I came out, quote unquote, in the sense that my parents just sort of stumbled upon something and they were like, oh, we didn't realize this is what we were dealing with. Where we come from, this doesn't happen. That was sort of their concept of it. And so I give them a lot of grace for that because they just had no context for it. And so we went to conversion therapy. And part of the ultimatum was, if you take. If you go to therapy, then you can go to school at NYU where your sister is. Those poor people did not realize that that's one of the gayest schools in the country. But the ultimatum was either you take conversion therapy and you go to nyu, or you don't and you stay in state and you live with us and you go to school in Denver. And that would have been a great outcome as well. I just knew that thing about New York is that I just knew I had to live there. And so I kind of played along and I kind of just humored them and myself into seeing what it was and not knowing that it was ultimately very painful and detrimental. And there was a lot of healing that happened after that. But identity is this really fickle thing. Like, you know, it's not something that you arrive at until much later in life, I think, like, I think I didn't really get a grasp on who I was until, like, two years ago.

[Willie Geist]

Come on.

[Bowen Yang]

Truly, I think, like, working on Wicked and just doing the back and forth between Wicked and snl not to jump ahead, but that was something that, like, flattened me psychologically because I was so burnt out that I had to, like, really come to grips with, like, who I was, and I had to face myself. And I feel like that's, like a beautiful Human journey that we get to go on if we're lucky. I'm getting so deep with you.

[Willie Geist]

No, it's great. No, it's such a beautiful way to put it. But I think people. You seem so. I don't know if self assured is the right word, but you carry yourself so well that I think people would be surprised to hear you say you're still working through it in some ways. But I guess we all are, aren't we?

[Bowen Yang]

I think so. I think, like, it's still. This is what my therapist says is that identity is this, like, cobbled together thing at any given moment. But as you sort of move through life like it goes through the kiln, I'm mixing up my metaphors. You know, you kind of go through this crucible where it sort of starts to firm up.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

So.

[Willie Geist]

And how did that play out at nyu? So you finally.

You check the box.

Okay. Mom, Dad, I did that crazy thing you asked me to do, going to meet my sister at nyu. Was it everything you hoped it would be in New York City?

[Bowen Yang]

It was. Oh, my gosh. I loved moving here. I still love it here. And I. I think I'm gonna go through my cycles, maybe, like. But I just remember moving here, living in the East Village, feeling like I was in rent and just.

[Willie Geist]

So, so.

[Bowen Yang]

Blown away by the reality of my life now, which was that I was a New York City resident. And I remember I was living off campus. I was living with my sister, wasn't in the dorms. And so I was really banking on making it into the improv group at nyu because I was like, this is my only social channel. This is the only way I'm gonna, like, really meet people is if I work on this. Work on this improv group. I remember I got the call that I was in while I was watching the SNL Cold Open, where Tina Fey was Sarah Palin for the first time.

[Willie Geist]

Oh, wow.

[Bowen Yang]

Like, it all just felt so cosmic. And then, yeah, just did that. Graduated nyu, stuck around in the city, pulled out of my med school applications, decided I'm gonna go for this comedy thing. Took classes at ucb, did sketch comedy throughout the city, produced my own shows in Brooklyn, Met so many people through all of these experiences, built community. That's the thing that I think that I can't put a price tag on is that I met people that I still work with today. And fast forward and here we are.

[Willie Geist]

But everything you just laid out in about 20 seconds took 10 years. Right from the fall of 2008 till you get the writer's job on SNL. But an important stop a couple years before that with the podcast Las Culturistas with Matt, the wonderful Matt, that established you and kind of gave you a thing right before you even got to snl. Usually it works backwards.

[Bowen Yang]

Right.

[Willie Geist]

Okay.

You're well known now. Get a podcast. Yeah. You sort of flipped it the other way.

[Bowen Yang]

That's right.

[Willie Geist]

Did that feel like a breakthrough moment when that started to become sort of a thing, the podcast?

[Bowen Yang]

Definitely, Definitely. It was the first time where it felt like Matt and I had our stamp on something that other people wanted to join in on. Because all you're doing pounding the pavement in New York, especially as a comedian coming up, is you're begging people to come watch you. And it felt like for the first time we had built something and they came and they did come. And I feel like that was just this cosmic alignment of all these things. Like, that was never the plan. We never expected it to take off. But yeah, we're dinosaurs in podcasting. Like, we're nine years in. That's a long time.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

But I think we've kept it going because it's pretty low concept. It's just two people hanging out. We get guests on every now and then.

[Willie Geist]

Pretty good ones.

[Bowen Yang]

Good ones. We've really lucked out with our guests. And Matt is such a great interviewer. I've learned a lot from him in terms of asking questions. We're no Willie Geist, but we're, we're, we're, we're learning.

[Willie Geist]

I don't know, it's pretty popular. You're doing pretty well.

[Bowen Yang]

It's fun. But yeah, that was, that was a thing too, where going into snl, like, it felt like we had this community building thing around the podcast. We would do shows where we had 50 comedians on and we would tour it. We toured it one year with, you know, we would book 30 comedians from each city from like, Philly, Austin, Dallas, L.A. chicago, like Toronto. Vancouver. And we got to meet people in those cities in a very fast tracked way where we just kind of understood the landscape in a very unique way too.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah. And I mean, we should point out that Matt went to school. You guys went to school together at nyu. Matt Rogers and went to school together. So I mentioned you get the job as a writer in 2018.

[Bowen Yang]

Yep.

[Willie Geist]

And then the next year, year, they make you a part of the cast.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

What was that jump? Was that an audition again? Was that Lauren saying, I think you're ready now, or how did that play out?

[Bowen Yang]

The Journey is so interesting, and I would not have changed it for the world. It was over two years, two summers. It was four auditions. So my manager at the time, in 2017, saw, said SNL is looking for new people if you want to send in a tape of five minutes of characters and impressions. And I was like, they're never going to hire an effeminate Asian man. I am just going to have fun and do this for me. No one's going to see this. Somehow it slipped through the cracks, and it made it through each stage gate. And then I did the showcase live and then got invited to do the screen test, where it was basically doing that tape but doing it live. Then they ask you a week later to come back in with five minutes of new material. And at that point you're like, I just gave you my greatest hits. Like, I gotta go back to the drawing board. And that was the second round of auditions. Then they put me on a holding deal for a year. Then I auditioned again in March of 2018. They weren't gonna hire anyone new until the summer. I go back in August of 2018. Then I fly to LA to meet with Lorne because he was producing the Emmys that year. We have a great conversation, and he says, I think you should start off writing. And there was no, like, plan to put me on the cast, but I think that was his, like, vetting process for me, because he ended up telling me when he gave me the call that I was moving to cast was that he said, I knew. And I know that you will have a special kind of scrutiny, that people will look at you in a very specific way because of who you are. And I needed to make sure you knew how the sausage was made, that you knew how things worked here so that I could set you up for success. And I think that's part of his vision. Like, that's the thing about Lorne Michaels that no one can really tap into, because he's seen it all. He's seen every kind of showbiz development in, like, an individual life and in the collective sense. Like, he knows what this is, and I really appreciate that.

[Willie Geist]

It sounds like the kind of thing that might have been disappointing in the moment. Oh, I wanted to be on the cast, but now. Sounds wise in hindsight.

Oh, yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

And I still am so, so, so grateful that I had that writing experience is that, you know, you sweat bullets sitting next to Lorne Michaels at dress rehearsal under the bleachers as he, like, kind of picks your sketch apart in real time. That is something that, like, gives you the thickest skin within an instant. Like, you can really take any sling and arrow that comes your way, whether it's from people internally or if it's from the audience. Like, you just let it slip like water off a duck's back. Like, I really, I think I've developed a pretty good sense of like, well, like, we did our best, you know, and if people didn't like it, then that's too bad and we'll just try again. Like, that is the thing that SNL builds into you in a way that I'm really, really grateful for that I don't think I could have gotten anywhere else.

[Willie Geist]

You kind of have to, right? You can't die with every sketch. Right. You just gotta keep moving.

[Bowen Yang]

Yep.

[Willie Geist]

Stick around for more of my conversation with Bowen Yang right after a quick break.

[Bowen Yang]

Hey there.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

It's Dr. Sanjay Gupta with some exciting news to share. CNN is now streaming. That means you can read, watch and stream everything in one subscription. You can watch news live twice 24 7. You can also explore catch up videos and explainer videos. And you can also watch the library of CNN's originals, including my latest documentary, it doesn't have to hurt. Just go to CNN.com AllAccess we're interrupting.

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[Willie Geist]

Welcome back now to the rest of my conversation with Bowen Yang.

So you are in the first sketch of your first season, the Open, the cold Open.

[Bowen Yang]

Right.

[Willie Geist]

Playing Kim Jong Un.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Willie Geist]

As a kid who grew up watching SNL and loving the show, what is that countdown like 30 seconds and you're about to be on Saturday Night Live. Do you remember?

[Bowen Yang]

I do. I do. What I remember from that was feeling my feet was just grounding myself because I think what I developed from all those times auditioning where you're being held in a dressing room for hours in your head, running your audition over and over again was what I learned was just the basics of meditation. It was just like, I need to be very present with this. I need to focus on one thing, and I need to really just not let my thoughts spiral out of control. And that's another thing about that long vetting process is that I just learned the pace of things at that show, and I learned that you just have to hold onto yourself really tight. I just remember that first countdown, like, being in this ridiculous dictator get up to just, like, feel the clothes on my body, feel the weight of myself on, like, the studio floor, knowing that it was this big swing. And what a wild first shot for me as a cast member to be Kim Jong Un. But, yeah, that was a really special moment.

[Willie Geist]

Is there a phone call home that night or the next morning?

[Bowen Yang]

There was. My parents were in the audience, I think.

[Willie Geist]

Oh, they were there.

[Bowen Yang]

They were there. And so that was nice, too.

[Willie Geist]

That's great.

[Bowen Yang]

Just kind of sharing this space with them for a pretty unbelievable moment. A moment that no one had any expectation of was. It was wild.

[Willie Geist]

And saying, see, it was all worth it.

[Bowen Yang]

I told you.

[Willie Geist]

I told you.

Someday.

Someday.

[Bowen Yang]

I mean, yeah, but, like, if one thing had gone differently, it's just I understand how delicate things are now. How, like, circumstances so, so fragile. Like, if I had moved back home or if I didn't come to school in New York or if I didn't say, sure, why not? I'll put together a tape for snl. Like, it just would have. Things would have ended up so differently.

[Willie Geist]

I know I'm the one millionth person to ask you this, but I have to ask you about the iceberg.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Willie Geist]

Just because it does feel like a lot of us were like, oh, he's good. He's funny. That felt like the breakthrough moment where it was totally undeniable because it was the performance, the writing, the whole thing.

[Bowen Yang]

Ridiculous.

[Willie Geist]

Was so brilliantly ridiculous. Did you feel that impact after that sketch? Like, oh, something has changed here.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes. I knew something was different about that sketch because while the show was still on air, while I was getting out of the makeup, I check my phone and Will Ferrell emails me and he goes, that was amazing. You need to do that every week. And I was like, will Ferrell, you know how the show works. That's not possible. That's do here. But that felt like just the signal that this was. This was. This was very, very, very cherished for me. And, yeah. And I Think even the days after, my manager called and she was like, so Sandra Bullock wants you to be in this movie called the Lost City with her. Like, do you want. Do you have time to, like, fly down to the Dominican Republic to do like five lines? And I was like, sure. But I was like, I think she had. I was like, all of a sudden these doors were opening. And I completely agree that that was this inflection for me and Anna Dresden, who wrote it with me. I'm very grateful for Kate Russik, who designed the headpiece and the costume. That is also my favorite example of just the convocation of different talents that come together when. When making a moment like that is just. It takes a village. And Lauren understands that, is that it's by committee and by collaboration. These things happen in this magical way.

[Willie Geist]

And also those departments up for anything. I need to be the Titanic iceberg.

Got it.

We'll get to work.

[Bowen Yang]

Yep, yep.

[Willie Geist]

Whatever you throw at them, they're like, okay, they're amazing.

[Bowen Yang]

It doesn't really work like that in a lot of places.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

And just the flexibility, the mobility, the experience is something that you just don't get anymore. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

We were talking a minute ago about SNL50 and how special that night was. I felt lucky just to be on the red carpet talking to you guys and to watch some of the show. What was it like for you to think, wow, here I am at this cultural moment 50 years later, and I'm in the cast on the show and looking out into the crowd and seeing so many of your heroes.

[Bowen Yang]

I mean, it was something that I'll never forget. I journaled extensively about it because I didn't want to forget it, because I really wanted to remember this feeling I had, which was awe. Like, true awe. Meeting people who had completely different experiences from me, still come to the show and still be grateful, still have, like, none of the. None of the anxiety that does cling onto you, that does stay with you for better or worse, like, have that all kind of melt away. Everyone was just so happy to be there. And it gave me this, like, four dimensional tapestry on what life, just life is. I was gonna say, like life after the show or life during the show is. Cause everyone was sharing experiences about, like, oh, I mean, yeah, that's where Farley would hit his head. Or that's where I would, you know, have my little panicked moments, like in between sketches, like things that are universal, that have lasted through time in the decades. But meanwhile, I just look at that whole week and just think, that's like the human experience there in a nutshell. It's like people go through that place, and then they come out, and then they have kids and they have families, and they remain friends with people, or they mourn the loss of others. And every emotion gets sort of braided into that one moment, and I can't believe I got to be a part of it.

[Willie Geist]

What was funny to watch for me, interviewing so many people was before we would start, even for Will Ferrell or Amy Poehler, there was a little. They were. They had sketches, so there was a little bit of, like, you know, still get a little butterfly, maybe a little rewrite in their head while they're going through it. Like it was still there. Right. You know, they've been gone all these years, but it, like, as you said, it doesn't really ever actually leave you.

[Bowen Yang]

Right. That feeling, in a way, that is terrifying and also so beautiful.

[Willie Geist]

Right, right. Thrilling. Exactly.

[Bowen Yang]

Thrilling.

[Willie Geist]

We're gonna go visit the Wicked theater in just a moment. The Gershwin.

[Bowen Yang]

Yep.

[Willie Geist]

I'm not surprised how that movie took off, just because people love the story, they love the musical. They love all you guys who are in the cast. What was it like to be at the middle of this Wicked phenomenon as it really took off?

[Bowen Yang]

I mean, I cannot believe that it culminated in me wearing my costume at the Oscars. That is something. Just to speak for myself, I know I'm not the main character of the movie, but I cannot believe that I got to have this beginning, middle, and end, and it's not even over. There's another movie coming out. Everybody. Yes.

[Willie Geist]

To be clear.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, my goodness. But that is something that I could have never expected, and that is something that also was born out of Lorne and Mark Platt and Jon M. Chu and everyone involved and everyone at Universal just making it work and making it work for me in a way that meant everything. I mean, we're about to go to the Gershwin the same day that I went to the Gershwin when I was 14 years old, coming to New York City for the first time. We couldn't get tickets to the show. It felt so far away that, like, all I wanted to do was just push my face up against the glass of the Gershwin just to feel like a tactility, a contact with this. This musical that I loved. And then we went down the street to 30 Rock to take the studio tour with a Page. Then we sat in the bleachers at snl.

[Willie Geist]

That's wild, by the way.

[Bowen Yang]

Wild.

[Willie Geist]

Wicked and SNL on the same day.

[Bowen Yang]

And now. And now. And I remember watching Wicked for the first time. There was an opportunity to see it with the people at snl. I think it was the week that Ari Yana Grande was hosting, and I wasn't gonna do it. I was like, no, I want to watch something that I'm in by myself, usually just so I can, like, have my vain spin out thoughts. But I was like, wait a minute. The last time these two things intersected.

[Willie Geist]

Was.

[Bowen Yang]

20 years ago on my first trip to New York City when I did the tour, and I went to the Gershwin. I need to have this bookend just one last time. And I went, and it was so nice. And Sarah Sherman was in tears. I mean, which is not an unusual occurrence, but she was crying, and I can't believe I got to share that sort of intersection once again. I can't believe I got to be part of these two things that I think meant so much to me and mean a lot to other people.

[Willie Geist]

And you touched on this a minute ago, but I didn't fully appreciate till I was reading what you did just to get that movie made, which is shuttling across the Atlantic between New York and London. And it wasn't necessarily an easy time for you, although the product is beautiful and it's been thrilling for you. But it was. It was hard. Yeah, right.

[Bowen Yang]

And that was the thing that Lorne warned me about. He was like, you're gonna travel a lot, and you're not gonna be. You're not gonna be like, the principal on this cast, and that's not. And you're valued here. And it's gonna be different going back and forth between these two very different experiences where I got to. You know, you get to call the shots at snl in a way. Creatively, it's very bottom up instead of top down. Like, it all starts with your idea as a cast member or writer. Whereas on a huge movie like Wicked, you are purely in service of the project in this beautiful way, and it's an amazing project. And so those are two very different modalities. And I, in my hubris, was like, yeah, yeah, Lauren, whatever. I got this. I have my. You know, I have all my. I have all my medications at the ready. Nothing could have. Nothing could prepare anyone for that, truly. There's just something. Until we invent teleportation, we need to. We need to. By the way, it's time. It's time.

[Willie Geist]

We've been talking about it forever.

[Bowen Yang]

Let's do it. I know.

[Willie Geist]

Come on.

[Bowen Yang]

Come on. I'm gonna do it. But, yeah, there was Just. It catches up to you.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

And it got me. But I think it also got me to this place where I was really having to confront myself, because I wasn't sure what I was bringing to either thing. At a certain point, I was like, who. Who am I? Why am I in these things? Am I worthwhile in these things? Like, am I just a piece of furniture in either setting? Like, it really got me to figure out, like, how I value myself and how other people might value me. And it turned out that both of those. The answer to both of those questions was a lot. I value myself a lot. Other people value me in a way that I really appreciate. And I'm very, very glad I got through that, like, Ozzie experience. Felt like I was going to Oz myself, coming back and just having an appreciated sense of, like, where I was and what I had.

[Willie Geist]

How have you dealt Bowen with the fame side of this? Because, you know, even in the early years of snl, it's New York. People just give you a wave. You can walk down the street. To me, the wicked of it all, and I'm talking about around the world changes all of that.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Willie Geist]

How are you coping with that part of it?

[Bowen Yang]

I think I have gotten the most incremental sort of, like, arc with this. Like, I have a podcast that a niche audience in Brooklyn might listen to. I'm gonna get some hellos and some waves at, like, your dingy bars here and there. Oh, my goodness. How fun. How fancy. And then getting SNL was another step up, or just writing on SNL made me kind of known to, like, a broader comedy community that keeps track of these things. And then getting on the cast was another expansion. It just felt. It just feels like concentric circles. I feel like I have been so lucky in that way where I haven't gotten too overwhelmed with it, you know? Like, also, my life is pretty much the same as it was 10 years ago. I can, like, walk to the grocery store and buy a baguette for myself. The entire baguette for myself.

[Willie Geist]

Yes, Yes. I support that, by the way. Thank you.

[Bowen Yang]

100%.

[Willie Geist]

It's also sort of what you make it, isn't it? If you have it in your head, I can't go to the grocery store anymore, then that becomes a thing.

[Bowen Yang]

Totally.

[Willie Geist]

Just go to the grocery store.

[Bowen Yang]

Exactly. I mean, yeah, it's a. Sometimes, you know, you put the locks on the door yourself.

[Willie Geist]

Yes.

[Bowen Yang]

And I don't have too many locks. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

That's good.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

Well, why don't we hop up and go See the Gershwin.

[Bowen Yang]

Great.

[Willie Geist]

If you're up for it.

[Bowen Yang]

I'm so up for it.

[Willie Geist]

Thanks, Bowen.

After Bowen and I sat down, we went upstairs to the Broadway Blue Room that exhibits all kinds of memorabilia from across Broadway, including a key piece from Wicked that figures into his role in the movie.

[Bowen Yang]

Is this like a Planet Hollywood for Broadway stuff?

[Audie Cornish]

Is that.

[Willie Geist]

It feels like it's a familiar hat.

[Bowen Yang]

Very familiar. Wow, look at that.

[Willie Geist]

There it is.

[Bowen Yang]

I mean, this is pretty amazing. Do you feel some sort of cosmic energy from this?

[Willie Geist]

I do. I was just telling you, Phantom was my introduction to Broadway in the 80s, so I still feel. Took my kids to see it. It felt the same. You know, there's something about it. It feels like home.

[Bowen Yang]

Right. I mean, I. This is gonna sound so nerdy, but I remember seeing Wicked in the West End a few summers ago with my friend Celeste, who's also a writer at snl, and I was like. And they came up as a playwright, and I was like, wow, theater's amazing. And then Celeste goes. I mean, yeah, it's the most immediate sort of art form in a sense. Like, you're sharing space with the performers in a way that is not. Not unimportant. I know that sounds weird. It's like. It's a very essential part of this form where, like, you are in the same space as the audience. And that's what I. That's what I love about snl, too. It's like you gotta play to the audience in the room, and hopefully that means it plays to the audience.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah. There's also an excitement to theater that you can't replicate, which is like building. Building. You come in the orchestra, music's playing the ticket, you get your Playbill, you sit down, you don't know what's about to happen. And then these people just out there, there they are, right? There's a smell to it. Like the paint or something. Right. It's all there.

[Bowen Yang]

And there's a line at the bathroom. It's wonderful. Everyone's just filing in and out of the urinal. Yes.

[Willie Geist]

People opening Twizzlers while you're trying to act on stage. That's always exciting, too.

[Bowen Yang]

Spilling their rum and Cokes. I don't know. They think they're on an island or something. No, they're in Broadway.

[Willie Geist]

They have too many sometimes, and they get. Interact with the show, too. It's like, this is not. No, we're not doing. We're not taking improv suggestions.

[Bowen Yang]

We're not taking improv suggestions.

[Willie Geist]

We're doing Wicked.

[Bowen Yang]

We're doing Wicked. Have some respect. I mean, this is amazing. It's cool.

[Willie Geist]

It's very cool.

[Bowen Yang]

My character in the movie is the one who finds the hat.

[Willie Geist]

I know.

[Bowen Yang]

And I feel like that's, you know, Ozzie in history would have been very different had he not found that.

[Willie Geist]

That's right.

[Bowen Yang]

So Fanny is an important part of.

[Willie Geist]

The canon that is central. The hat goes right. The hack is Linda to Alphabet.

[Bowen Yang]

And then that's her. That's her uniform.

[Willie Geist]

Without you, it doesn't happen. There's no movie, no franchise.

[Bowen Yang]

Exactly. Well, do you have an article of clothing that defines you? I think you're a watch guy.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah, but not like those crazy expensive watches.

[Bowen Yang]

No, it doesn't have to be crazy expensive.

[Willie Geist]

No, I like a watch. This is a Shinola from Detroit, Michigan.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes, I love a Shinola.

[Willie Geist]

Shinola is a nice watch. An article of clothing defines me.

[Bowen Yang]

Like I'm glasses. You know what I mean?

[Willie Geist]

Right? I don't think I do. Which makes me sad. And now I feel like I need one.

[Bowen Yang]

No, I don't think you do.

[Willie Geist]

I mean, a blue jean. I wear a jean a lot, but that's boring. Sneakers, sometimes. Not these per se, but, like, out in the world. A little more interesting.

[Bowen Yang]

I've seen Willie Geist in, like, I've seen Willie Geist in a nice linen suit.

[Willie Geist]

Oh, right.

[Bowen Yang]

And I feel like that is your. That's your power.

[Willie Geist]

Okay, that's good.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

Okay.

Power fit for the summer. And then we did a little black tie for SNL50. We can go in all different directions.

[Bowen Yang]

Clean up nicely. He cleans up very nicely, Willy. Guys, very generous. Anyway, this is cool.

[Willie Geist]

Great.

Planet Hollywood.

After we knocked around and looked at all that memorabilia, we went down the street to the Gershwin Theater, where they're still putting on Wicked every night. It is a place that is so special to Bowen Yang. He loved the idea of Wicked. When his family came there when he was 14 to see new York City City, he said they couldn't get tickets. They didn't know how to get them, so they never went. So he just literally went and pressed his face against the glass to get as close to Wicked as he could. And now, by God, he's in the Wicked movies.

So this is the theater where you came when you were 14 with your parents.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Willie Geist]

And pushed your face against the glass.

[Bowen Yang]

My parents parked their Toyota Sienna right down there, and I ran out of the car with my entire. We only had, I would say, 45 seconds for me to, like, make contact with the glass, but I Just wanted to see the lobby. How wholesome and pathetic is that? Pretty wholesome and pathetic.

[Willie Geist]

And did you feel like that was enough for me, I'll be back someday?

[Bowen Yang]

Or I think I did say to myself, I'll be back someday with Willie Geist.

[Willie Geist]

And yet we still can't get in.

[Bowen Yang]

Still can't get in. Darn it. I mean, for old time's sake, should we just touch it? Yeah, I think we should just touch the glass. But it literally was right here. Probably like a whole foot shorter. And just like, just this.

[Willie Geist]

Just to feel it.

[Bowen Yang]

Just to feel it. And it's so ridiculous.

[Willie Geist]

Like, you're in the biggest movie in the world, and it's wicked.

[Bowen Yang]

It's wild. Like, it. This felt so again, far away. And all that mattered was that I was close to it for just, like, a moment, you know? And I remember doing the movies, and all the people who were involved with this Broadway production were like, I mean, the movie is endgame. And then it, like, hit me that, like, oh, this is what. This is. What the vision was all along for all these decades was these people just wanted to make the movie version. And even being, like, a small part of it is huge.

[Willie Geist]

I think you've had a series of pinch me moments, whether it's even getting to New York by going to nyu, getting on snl, the show you loved growing up, and then ultimately here. You've had a lot of them, haven't you?

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, it's pretty wild. And I don't have, like, occasions to. I'm not like a. I don't get too rapid up in, like, my own mythology or anything or my lore. But, like, being here with you is. I think it gives it the right occasion to, like, reflect on it and think, wow, that's pretty amazing. So thank you for bringing me here. Let's touch it again. Let's touch it again. It's perfect.

[Willie Geist]

Thank you. So good to see you.

[Bowen Yang]

You too.

[Willie Geist]

So much fun. Thank you.

[Bowen Yang]

Let's get you back to Westchester. Get this man back. Get this man back home.

[Willie Geist]

Let's get you the 30 rounds.

My big thanks again to Bowen for a great conversation. You can see his new movie, the Wedding banquet, in theaters April 18th. And my thanks to all of you for listening again this week. If you want to hear more of my conversation with our guests every week, be sure to click follow so you never miss an episode. And don't forget to tune in to Sunday Today every weekend on NBC to.

See these interviews with your very own eyes.

I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you right back here next week on the Sunday Sit down podcast.

[Audie Cornish]

Went to Rome.

[Bowen Yang]

I thought that my boyfriend was going.

[Eglund's Best Eggs Advertiser]

To propose to me.

[Willie Geist]

He wasn't.

[Bowen Yang]

I did use my sapphire reserve for the flight. So the points did make up for.

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The whole Note proposal.

[Bowen Yang]

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