Aidy Bryant Not Leaving ‘SNL’ Despite New Hulu Comedy Series

Aidy Bryant will not be leaving Saturday Night Live, despite landing a new Hulu comedy series titled Shrill.

According to Variety, the six-episode series is expected to begin production this week, but Bryant will remain a cast member on the late-night sketch-comedy series so it is possible that Shrill will wrap filming prior to SNL’s new season premiere.

Bryant will star, as well as serve as a co-writer on the series which is an adaptation of Lindy West’s book Shrill: Notes From a Loud Woman. In addition to Bryant, Shrill will also star Lolly Adefope, Luka Jones, Ian Owens, and John Cameron Mitchell.

While she is most recognizable from her time on Saturday Night Live, Bryant has appeared in a number of TV shows, such as Broad City, Girls, Horace & Pete, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

She has also turned up in a few high-profile films, like The Big Sick and the Amy Schumer movie I Feel Pretty.

Around the time that I Feel Pretty was released, Bryant spoke with Entertainment Weekly about her role as one of Schumer’s best friends.

“I find that when I’m with my friends, I’m never thinking like, ‘Ooh, my thigh is wide,’ or like, ‘My stomach is big,’ or whatever,” Bryant said of the way the film approaches friendship. “I’m always just thinking: ‘My friends are beautiful! They’re so funny, they’re so smart, they’re making me laugh.’ “

Regarding the message of the film, Bryant expressed that she feels early critics of the film who were concerned that it would be body-shaming misjudged it.

“The movie really tells the story that the battle is in the brain, and it’s not at the gym or in the mirror,” Bryant said. “It’s in your mind, and I hope that’s what people take away from it.”

She also spoke about what it’s like to star on a show with as much legacy as Saturday Night Live while also unintentionally falling into a role as a body-positivity activist.

“It is a weird thing to grapple with when I just want to make people laugh,” Bryant confessed. “But I realize now that’s a luxury, and there’s so much work to be done.”

She went on to add that she is frequently sent scripts where “the entire plotline is that no man would ever fall in love with me unless a magic spell was cast on him.” This has led her to be very particular when taking on a project, choosing roles that let her just be her rather than using her body as a joke.

“It would be weird for me to be in this position and never acknowledge that I look different from, like, 90 percent of my co-stars,” she explained. “That’s my greatest strength. It gives me a point of view, and I couldn’t do it without it.”

At this time, there is no official premiere date for Shrill, nor for the upcoming season 44 of SNL.