Noel Wells

“I went to film school at UT Austin.”

“I think art maybe has just become very consumer-oriented, and maybe it's always been that way because it is a business.”

“I've always wanted to be a director; it's just how my mind has always worked. If I hear music, I see music videos and all the shots and setups to edit it all together. If I interact with a person, I'm seeing a whole scene come to life.”

“I want to collaborate with people and be a part of a creative community.”

“I feel like I grew up being babysat by a television, and all I ever wanted to do was be in movies, direct movies, make movies, but it took me a really long time to be honest with myself about it because my background is that my family was very poor.”

“I think the process of 'SNL' is still pretty formal. You make an audition tape, your agent sends it in, they watch people's tapes, and then they invite people to perform at a comedy club in Los Angeles or New York. But I don't know how much actual scouting they do online.”

“Growing up, I felt like it was very dangerous to mess up in any way, both in front of men and in front of other girls. It was like you couldn't make mistakes. So having a female friend who's like, 'Get over yourself. You're driving me crazy!' - that's been one of my most important parts of becoming an adult.”

“Men think of women as people who just augment their experience. Women's value isn't a given. But getting to know some incredible women, and even learning to value myself, it's a shame that we aren't celebrated, loved, and cherished as a default. A lot of stupid dudes are really missing out on a much more interesting experience of life.”

“Comedy is just honesty. Whether things are going well or bad.”

“I auditioned for 'S.N.L.' two years before I got on the show. And I remember the first time thinking, 'I know for sure I'm not going to get this.' But I had this feeling that I would be back.”

“For all of my class projects, I somehow turned it into a commercial parody or put on plays. My whole thing was seeing things from a big picture, from beginning to middle to end: making a costume, doing voices, writing a script, making it all happen.”

“I feel like I can do any kind of acting. It's hard to convince other people of that. I feel very confident that most any role, I would be able to do it. I don't have a lot of insecurities around acting.”