Saturday Night Live alum Sasheer Zamata has come out as a lesbian. Zamata, who left SNL in 2017, sat down for an interview with Them in which she described herself as “one of those late-in-life lesbians.”
“I’m out in my life and I do keep my personal life kind of private, but I also don’t necessarily want my identity to be private,” Zamata told Them. “I guess I’m one of those late-in-life lesbians. I just feel very comfortable and confident in my life.”
Coincidentally, Zamata has often played a lesbian in many of her acting roles.
“I kept getting cast as queer women,” Zamata said. “I played a lesbian on Home Economics. I played a lesbian on Woke. I played a lesbian on Tuca & Bertie. A lesbian on Last O.G. I kept getting these roles. And this is before I myself was figuring out my identity. I was like, ’Whoa, what are these casting directors seeing that I’m not seeing?’”
She added, “I guess it felt like if I didn’t say anything, I’d be ignoring a part of me, and that doesn’t feel very good. But yeah, I’ve definitely had thoughts of, not necessarily keeping it a secret, but [that] there’s no need to say anything about it.”
During the interview, Zamata showed gratitude to her podcast co-host and “soulmate” Nicole Byer.
“I feel very, very lucky that I have a person in my life who fully understands everything,” the actress said.
Zamata said she went through a dramatic change when she recently stopped taking birth control for the first time since her teen years.
“It really did kind of change everything,” she said. “I cut all my hair off. And I was always attracted to women, but I think [that] really boosted it. Even my friends and people around me were like, ‘Something is different about you. We can’t put our finger on it, but something’s happening.’”
Even though Zamata is now out and proud, she still plans to remain private.
“As far as what people deserve to know? Nothing. They don’t deserve anything,” she said. “I feel very fortunate so far. I have fans who are good about respecting my privacy, and I hope that continues. And I hope artists like Chappell Roan who are very clear about boundaries keep going.”
Zamata can be seen soon in Disney+’s Marvel series, Agatha All Along, which premieres on Sept. 18.
