LIVE WIRE Yang started as a writer before becoming SNL's first Chinese American cast member.

BOWEN YANG WAS VOTED "Most Likely to be a Cast Member on Saturday Night Live" by his high school classmates in Aurora, Colorado—a superlative that proved prophetic in 2019, when the iconic sketch series promoted him from writer to performer. The son of Chinese scientists who immigrated first to Australia and then Canada and the United States, Yang is the first Chinese American cast member in SNL's 45-year history. But Yang—who brings verve to characters as varied as Kim Jong-un, a gratingly upbeat SoulCycle instructor, and saucy trade representative Trade Daddy—still believes the writer is king within the Studio 8H ecosystem.

"They basically produce the sketches as soon as they get pitched," says Yang, who has cowritten "GP Yass" (in which drag queens offer GPS directions) and the viral "Sara Lee" (in which Harry Styles's social media manager accidentally posts racy personal messages to the dessert company's feed). "They make decisions about set design, costuming, wigs, props, and give cast members and the host notes. There are so many granular creative decisions they make on the fly that are beyond the scope of what a writer does anywhere else."

In addition to juggling roles at SNL and costarring on Comedy Central's Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens, Yang is brainstorming future projects in hopes of replicating the trajectory of fellow SNL-er Aidy Bryant, who is a co-executive producer, writer, and star of the Hulu comedy Shrill. "She understood this is a business where not everything is handed to you and you have to make your own work," says Yang. "I'm not setting too many expectations for myself. I'm just trying to create interesting opportunities."