Conan O’Brien Has One Regret About His Time at ‘SNL’

On the latest episode of the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast, the host spoke with Tom Hanks about the actor’s new film Here. The film, which has been poorly received by critics and audiences alike, stars Hanks and Robin Wright as characters who age from their 20s well into their elder years through the dubious magic of de-aging technology. The film explores life’s roads not taken and the possibilities that could have been.

In line with the movie’s existential themes, O’Brien candidly shared a regret that’s been gnawing at him about his time as a writer on Saturday Night Live. O’Brien cut his teeth at SNL for three seasons from 1988 until 1991 before he moved on to a writing position on The Simpsons. This was, of course, before he began his career as a late night talk show host.

“I wish I could go back in time,” O’Brien earnestly told Hanks. “People always say no regrets, [but] I regret being so intense about that job. I was way too intense, and I think I robbed myself of some fun that I could have had,” the former Late Night host reflected.

While the experience wasn’t a complete dirge, O’Brien doesn’t think he made the job easy on himself. “I did have a lot of fun, but I think I could have had more fun. And I think I could have maybe written there a little longer if I didn’t make it such a grind for myself,” he admitted.

“I burnt out. I burnt out,” O’Brien admitted. “And [Lorne Michaels] could not have been nicer. This was a couple years before he contacted me about the Late Night show. But I was burnt out and I was like, ‘I’ve got to go,’ and that’s when I went to The Simpsons.”

But O’Brien didn’t last long on The Simpsons, either. Michaels kept asking him to consider hosting Late Night, and in 1993 O’Brien accepted the gig. He hosted the show until 2009, when he briefly took over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno.

You can listen to the full episode of Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend here.