Oak Park's Cecily Strong Flexes Her Comedy Muscle

She might be the girl you wish hadn't started a conversation with, but as a breakout actress on Saturday Night Live more and more people want to talk to Cecily Strong. 

The Oak Park native is one of three new cast members on SNL, and she's starting to get a higher profile, largely because of her belligerent character, "Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation With at a Party."

Strong is an alumna of the Second City Training Center’s conservatory program, the Second City Touring Company and the cruise ship-based Second City Theatricals, as well as Chicago’s iO theatre. 

A Q&A with Strong recently appeared in Chicago Magazine, and she addressed the legacy of female comics she's following: 

I feel really lucky to be doing comedy right now because women like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Kristen Wiig have opened so many doors. Because of them, people want to hear my voice as a woman and see well-rounded female characters who aren’t just the funny girlfriend commenting on how crazy her boyfriend is.

You can check out the full Chicago Magazine Q&A here. 

Her success also landed her a recent appearance on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, who is another SNL alum. Fallon got a hold of Strong's audition tape and asked if she'd share another one of her audition characters, a cruise ship passenger perplexed that she couldn't carry a pineapple on board. See the video above to hear that impression. 

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Tell us: How do you think Cecily Strong has done on SNL so far?