Yang was photographed at a safe distance.
Photographed by Cait Oppermann
After 45 seasons, it’s hard to believe there are any firsts left for Saturday Night Live — but Yang arrived at 30 Rock in 2019 as the cast’s first Chinese American castmember and only its third openly gay male. He’s already made his mark on the show playing Kim Jong Un, Andrew Yang and Chinese economic official Chen “Trade Daddy” Biao. But it was a risque scene featuring Harry Styles as a horny Sara Lee social media manager — co-written by SNL alum Julio Torres — that made the biggest splash.
MY MENTOR IS “James Anderson, who held down the fort at SNL by writing so many queer sketches over the years that shaped my sensibility. He’s gone out of his way to be a good friend, and the same goes for B.D. Wong after I worked with him. It’s all crazy wish fulfillment.”
I’LL FEEL GOOD ABOUT HOLLYWOOD’S LGBTQ REPRESENTATION WHEN “Cherry Jones hosts a prank show.”
In creating the 2020 list of entertainment’s most powerful LGBTQ players, THR focused on the talent (behind and in front of the camera) and decision makers pushing for the most opportunities for work and visibility in film and television — while driving conversations about inclusivity with the rest of Hollywood and beyond. • Entries written by Seth Abramovitch, Kirsten Chuba, Mia Galuppo, Chris Gardner, Lesley Goldberg, Natalie Jarvey, Rebecca Keegan, Michael O’Connell, Alex Ritman and Bryn Elise Sandberg.
A version of this story first appeared in the June 3 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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