‘SNL’ star to deliver Dornsife commencement speech


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Nwodim studied biological sciences at USC, although she was set on becoming an entertainer and knew she had to be in L.A. (Photo courtesy of USC News)

“Saturday Night Live” cast member and Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences alumna Ego Nwodim will deliver the commencement address for the College’s 2022 satellite ceremonies. Nwodim graduated in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences while on the pre-med track.

During her senior year, Nwodim began to take acting classes with the Upright Citizens Brigade, an improvisational and sketch comedy theater and training center founded by comedians Amy Poehler, Matt Walsh, Matt Besser and Ian Roberts. There, she honed her comedic skills before moving to New York City and landing a role as a featured performer on SNL in 2018 — the seventh Black woman to be hired as a cast member.

“Ego is a tremendously talented entertainer whose hilarious and brilliant satire on social and racial issues makes people think as she makes them laugh,” said Dornsife Dean Amber D. Miller in a statement to the Daily Trojan. “We couldn’t be more proud to call her one of our Dornsife alumni.”

A main SNL cast member since 2020, Nwodim always knew she wanted to pursue a career in entertainment, she told Deadline Hollywood. However her mother, a physician, wanted her to go to college to study something that could provide her with financial stability later in life. Thus, a deal was struck between the two: Nwodim would attend college on a pre-med track if she was allowed to move to Los Angeles, where she could pursue her acting career while studying.

Acting was always Nwodim’s goal, but she did not get into comedy until her agent insisted she take an improv class. While she fell in love with the class, the final push to becoming a comedian was a reel she made interpreting various characters. She showed it to her friends, and they said it was the most genuine thing Nwodim had ever done.

Nwodim was featured in the 2016 CBS Diversity Showcase and was named one of the New Faces at the 2016 Just for Laughs festival in Montreal. In 2017, she sold out her first ever one-woman show, “Great Black Women … and Then There’s Me.” In 2019 Variety’s Comedy Impact recognized Nwodim in their issue.

Nwodim was rejected the first time she auditioned for SNL in 2015 and struggled with imposter syndrome even after her hire in 2018. However, she said she has since talked herself out of the feeling easily. Some of her most popular SNL roles are her portrayal of Dionne Warwick, A Weary Mother in Her Darkest Hour, a Nigerian Parent and A Black Woman Who Has Been Missing for Ten Years. She has also made multiple guest appearances on Comedy Bang! Bang!, a comedy podcast.

In the future, Nwodim would like to have her own dramedy show and direct, she said in an interview with Shondaland. 

“I’ve found myself in positions in this industry that I did not anticipate, so I’m cool with just being open to where life or this work might take me,” Nwodim said.

The Dornsife satellite commencement ceremonies will take place on Cromwell Field May 13 at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.