Seth Meyers thinks Lorne Michaels already knows who will succeed him at Saturday Night Live.
“I do believe he has already talked to himself about who it’s going to be,” Meyers said on Sunday’s Talk Easy With Sam Fragoso podcast. “And that person doesn’t know.”
Michaels kicked off rumors that he would be stepping down and choosing a replacement amid the show’s 50th anniversary celebrations. Meyers is a popular choice for the job, though he’s previously said he isn’t gunning for it. “It’s certainly possible” Michaels could tap him, however, he said Sunday.
“It’s so flattering,” Meyers said, stressing that he doesn’t think “anyone can replace Lorne,” but added, “I don’t want people to think that I don’t feel esteem when I hear it.”
Michaels, who created SNL in 1975, previous said that another of show’s former head writers, Tina Fey, could “easily” replace him as boss, but has otherwise stayed mum on the topic.
Meyers, meanwhile, has been adamant that talk about Michaels’ replacement was premature, despite the SNL boss’ comments about “figuring out” what he’ll do after the show’s 50th anniversary.
The Late Night host said last March, “I think this is a false narrative that Lorne is going anywhere. I think it made sense for Lorne, who’s got a flare for the dramatic, to say, ‘I think I’ll be done at 50.’ But now, it’s not like Lorne’s got something else he wants to do more than this.”
That said, Michaels is known for springing big news on people as if they are already on the same page, and the conversation with his successor would likely go the same way, Meyers said.
“When I got Late Night, he called me and I remember getting off the phone and thinking, ‘Was that a follow-up?’” Meyers joked. “It was a follow-up conversation to a conversation we hadn’t had, where he immediately was like, ‘So look, I think you’ll be good at it. It’ll take time.’ And I was like, what’s going on?”
