‘SNL’ Auditions Revealed: Jim Carrey, Jennifer Coolidge, Kevin Hart, Stephen Colbert and More Stars Who Got Cut

variety.com:

Ethan Shanfeld Jim Carrey, Jennifer Coolidge, Kevin Hart, Stephen Colbert, Donald Glover, Mindy Kaling and Jordan Peele. These are just some of the A-list comedy stars who once auditioned for “Saturday Night Live” and did not make the cut.

Their audition tapes were unveiled in the first episode of “SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night,” a four-part docuseries on Peacock directed by Morgan Neville that peels back the curtain on “Saturday Night Live’s” audition process, writers room and more.

Colbert sat down on camera to watch his own audition from 1996, in which he played a “waiter who is nauseated by food.” He smiled and laughed watching his younger self gag and heave while reading the specials. “Why didn’t you hire me?

That was pretty good!” he said. “I watched that and I went, ‘Aww… good for you, buddy. It’s going to get better. Eventually someone will like that enough to hire you.'” The “Late Show” host said of his audition, “I feel perfectly fine with that effort, and I probably felt OK then — until I didn’t get it.” Peele did a character named Darius, who is “way too thug to be a barista.” Throwing out his arms, he imitated the disgruntled coffee shop employee: “You said caramel mint mocha latte — nah, I ain’t think so!” Peele would, of course, go on to co-create his own successful sketch comedy show with Keegan-Michael Key, “Key & Peele,” before becoming the acclaimed film director behind “Get Out” and “Nope.” “There’s a lot of people that I brought in and I’m like, ‘I can’t believe we’re not hiring that person,'” said former “SNL” producer Marci Klein. “Jennifer Coolidge was so funny.