Exclusive

Why Andy Samberg Quit Saturday Night Live

Exclusive! Funnyman explains his departure from the legendary sketch show

By Marc Malkin Jun 04, 2012 10:06 PMTags
Justin Timberlake, Andy Samberg, Saturday Night Live, SNLDane Edelson/NBC

Deciding to leave Saturday Night Live didn't come easy for Andy Samberg.

Just a couple of days after the funnyman said his departure wasn't final yet, he announced on Friday that he decided to follow Kristen Wiig's footsteps out the door.

So what happened? Read on to find out…

"Honestly, I don't have a definitive answer," Samberg told me at yesterday's MTV Movie Awards in L.A. "It really had nothing to do with any one project I was moving onto or something else in the future that I have."

Samberg was on the show for seven years.

"I felt like it was my time," he said. "I talked to a lot of friends about it—a lot of friends who have been on the show. Me and Kristen talked about it a lot. I just came to that point."

Samberg said he hopes to pop up on SNL from time to time, but stopped short of wondering about actually hosting. He cracked, "Let's just hope I get some work after SNL."

As if he's going to go unemployed.

Samberg will next be seen in That's My Boy out on June 15. He plays Adam Sandler's son—the elder comedian's character has a tryst with a teacher while still a high school student.

We won't spoil things for you, but the comedy touches upon some rather taboo subjects. "People should just know that it goes places that are both entertaining and shocking," Samberg said.

Gossip Girl beauty Leighton Meester is also in the flick. "You can barely talk to me about any of the movie without at least dropping one or two F-bombs, talking about sex, drugs and whatever else," she said. "It was the best experience of my life."

(Saturday Night Live and E! Online are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)