‘SNL’ star Aidy Bryant finds strength in ‘Shrill’ experience

Bryant and West thought it was important to include the scene, particularly since they had moved beyond writing and processing stories about weight.

Although neither were expecting the third season to be “Shrill’s” last, they have seen real growth in the show and the character.

“The first season, Annie is a person who I was more like in my teens and early 20s,” Bryant says. “I feel so far from that now. To go back and sort of revisit the pain and the self-hatred and misery was a really wonderful experience because I was able to kind of look at where I am now.”

In the third season, “the idea that you come away with is that the battle against self-hatred is never over, but you can deal with it in different ways. In that way, I think Annie’s journey really comes to a beautiful end.”

Because Bryant was also juggling work on “Saturday Night Live,” she learned she could conquer this “whole new ballgame” and succeed in a much different format.

“I’ve been at ‘SNL’ for a very long time and it’s given me this incredible foundation for how to make television in extreme circumstances where the timeline is short and the decisions have to be made.

“I think that really helped me in working on ‘Shrill’ because I know how to work with an ensemble and communicate my ideas quickly and clearly.”