Why Saturday Night Live was a double-edged sword for Sasheer Zamata: 'The title won't leave me'

Sasheer Zamata is an actor and comedian that did everything right. She worked hard, saved up and moved to New York City. She pulled long hours performing for the Upright Citizens Brigade. Eventually, it all paid off. In 2013, she was cast on Saturday Night Live and was on the show for four seasons. But when she got hired, as you'll hear in today's interview, her hard work was often overshadowed by the fact that she was a black woman hired in the midst of SNL being criticized for the lack of diversity in its cast. So rather than getting looked at for her talent, she was often looked at as a solution to that problem.

This past May, Zamata left the show, and since then she's kept busy. She hosts a podcast on Spotify called United States of Music, she hosts a sketch performance night in Brooklyn, and she just had her first leading role in a film called The Outdoorsman. 

Today, Zamata joins Tom Power to talk about it all and shed some light on what it's actually like to be a cast member on Saturday Night Live.

— Produced by Vanessa Nigro