Cecily Strong will be leaving SNL, Saturday Night Live, after her last show on December 17, which will be hosted by Austin Butler (Elvis, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and include singer of About Damn Time and Truth Hurts Lizzo as the musical guest, according to Deadline. NBC’s SNL confirmed Strong’s exit via an Instagram post on the official SNL account.
Strong began at SNL on September 15, 2012 as a featured player and was moved up the following year for Season 39, via Deadline. The Ghostbusters star went on to co-anchor the “Weekend Update,” segment on SNL aimed at making fun of current events, alongside Seth Meyers (Late Night with Seth Meyers, Documentary Now!) and later to co-anchor the segment with Colin Jost (Coming 2 America, How to Be Single) after Meyers left to host his late night show, according to Deadline.
Strong’s notable characters include The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation with at a Party, Dana, the loud-mouthed and unfriendly retail employee, Krya the co-host of The Girlfriends Talk Show, and Cathy Anne, the drug-addicted neighbor of Michael Che (Saturday Night Live, That Damn Michael Che), via Deadline.
Along with SNL, Strong has appeared in Ghostbusters (2015), The Boss, and Schmigadoon!, and will be starring in the one woman show The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, that explores the feminist movement, theater as art form, and the challenges of trying to change the system from the inside, via Entertainment Weekly.