Jimmy Fallon reflects on dealing with hate while being on ‘SNL’

Jimmy Fallon is opening up about the tough lessons he learned during his early days on Saturday Night Live. In a recent appearance on The Diary of a CEO podcast, the comedian shared how much pressure he felt to be liked by everyone during his time on the iconic sketch show.

“I want everyone to like me,” Fallon admitted. 

“I can’t stand [the hate]. I go, ‘Oh, my gosh. What can I do to make you like me?’ I think the answer is you can’t. You can’t make everyone like you. You just have to do what you do. And do the best that you can at what you do. And be happy with yourself.”

Fallon was part of SNL from 1998 to 2004, where he became a fan favourite through roles like co-anchoring Weekend Update with Tina Fey and his unforgettable Barry Gibb impersonation in The Barry Gibb Talk Show sketch. 

But despite the laughs and success, he recalled being caught off guard by how critical some people could be behind the scenes.

“Some people want you to fail,” he said. 

“People’s jobs are to take me down and to put bad press out and stuff. That’s their job, and you’re just like, ‘Ooh.’ I don’t live in that world. I don’t believe that it’s real, but it kind of is real and you go, ‘Oh, people are just kind of being mean.’”

Going into SNL, Fallon expected a team spirit and positive energy. Instead, he learned that not everyone would be rooting for him. He described moments when his jokes didn’t land as “the absolute worst,” especially when all he wanted was to make people laugh.

In 2014, Fallon took over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno. Since then, the show has earned two Emmy Awards—one in 2014 for outstanding interactive program and another in 2015 for outstanding creative achievement in interactive media.