Quotes from Noel Wells

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.

'S.N.L.' is the comedy establishment. Of course you want to go through that, because you want that stamp of approval. But it has its own identity, and our voices didn't mesh for whatever reason - or they decided we didn't belong.

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

I've had this problem my whole life where I feel like I'm laughing all the time, and I feel like I understand what makes me laugh. But other people don't see it. It's very confusing.

I'm a progressive person, very liberal. I have this thing in my head where I'm going to change the world, but with comedy.

I went to film school at UT Austin.

I'm sure there have been a lot of boys I've chased over the years that has been fueled by alcohol and stupidity. But that's kind of how things happen - sometimes you have to do something really stupid, and sometimes it works out, and sometimes you fall flat on your face.

As a kid, I think people would have described me more as a goofball, or being energetic. But I always loved parodies; I loved spoofing things.

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 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 remember, when I was a little kid playing with the 25 Legos I had, I thought, 'If I just had a camera, I could film different setups and make it look like I have way more Legos and tell a story.' I didn't get a camera, though, until I basically got an iPhone.

I feel like if I had a spirit animal, it would be Holly Hunter.

I'm one of those people who had Christmas and my birthday always combined, and generally, my birthday was pretty much ignored. But my parents are always good about making some kind of special effort to make me feel like I also have a birthday that exists.

I like to be good. I like being good at things. I wish that was valued instead of me being 'better' than another woman who also writes things and makes movies.

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.

Getting on 'SNL' wasn't just about getting cast. I had written all this stuff in my audition, and I wrote several things that got on the air. But to me, I've never been interested in being picked. So when I do get sent things, most of the time I do pass on them because it doesn't feel like it would be fulfilling.

As a creative person, you have to keep going. There's no defined career path. There's no security.

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.

I just think that we're all humans; we all mess up. It's okay: we should give people room to learn from their mistakes. That's how evolution happens.

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.

I see so many women thinking other women are their enemies - especially when they don't have a job or a guy or whatever. It's like, 'I don't have what I want, and she does, so she must be my enemy.' I find it confusing and not fair and sad.

I think when you are trying to be intimate with people that are so incredibly self-obsessed, it's not going to work. It's not going to be romantic, and it's probably going to be one-sided.

To run a successful business, you have to be tough.

'S.N.L.' has become what it was always trying to make fun of. It's become this big machine. I don't want to be plugged into a machine.