How Did Lorne Michaels Save Jimmy Fallon's Career?

Jimmy Fallon is back on the Tonight Show following the end of the WGA strike and after facing toxic workplace allegations from staffers. The host has since apologized, saying he's "embarrassed" and that he feels "so bad."

Accusers claimed that they were in "constant state of fear" while on set. They even said it was "common knowledge" that "Fallon's temperament, mood, and treatment of staffers is erratic." As a result, "nobody told Jimmy 'no.' Everybody walked on eggshells, especially showrunners."

As he enjoys not being canceled like Ellen DeGeneres — who lost her daytime series after similar accusations — the Saturday Night Live alum shared in a new podcast interview that SNL's showrunner, Lorne Michaels saved his career at one point. Here's the truth about their relationship.

How Did Lorne Michaels Cast Jimmy Fallon On SNL?

Fallon's first attempt at joining SNL was a failure. He had sent in a tape from Los Angeles and was later invited to audition. On the big day, he did a Troll doll bit that won him the title of "funniest person in the Hudson Valley," per The List. Unfortunately, it didn't impress Michaels at all. "I totally bombed it and it was terrible," Fallon recounted.

"I couldn't get the crowd going, they didn't quite know what I was talking about, and I rushed into it. I was so nervous," he added. His spot was then given to Tracy Morgan who was in the show from 1996 to 2003. The following year, Fallon returned for another audition. This time, he got in after doing an Adam Sandler impression that made Michaels laugh.

"At the time he had just left the show, and no one had done an impression of Adam," recalled the TV presenter. "And I made Lorne laugh — he put his head in his hands, and he laughed, and I thought, 'Wow!'" Years after Fallon left the show in 2004, Sandler appeared on the Tonight Show where the former addressed his winning impression.

"You go 'All right, all right. Do the impression for me.' I was like, 'Oh my gosh,'" he said of coming to the Happy Gilmore star to clear the air. "I just did, like, you know, the goofy 'Yabbadaba!'" And you go, 'All right, that's good. Good luck, kid!'" Fallon continued.

Sandler then said that he didn't mind the impressions at all. "I do remember always getting calls from anybody who mentioned your name, from friends in my hometown, going 'Hey, did you see they were making fun of you?'" he said. "But as I got older, I was like, 'What the hell is the difference, man? It's fun! Who cares!'"

Did Jimmy Fallon Quit SNL?

In 2004, Fallon announced his departure from SNL after a six-year stint. The decision came from his desire to pursue a movie career. "My goal was just to be in movies — be like a rom-com guy or something," he told Entrepreneur (via Nicki Swift). He thought "It's just the path" to follow.

But after a couple of credits in Taxi with Queen Latifah and Fever Pitch with Drew Barrymore, Fallon realized that it wasn't working out for him. "Six years later, my movie career didn't pan out," he later told USA Today. In July 2023, Fallon and Robert Downey Jr. opened up about their failed auditions for The Holiday starring Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, and Jack Black.

The two were hopeful in getting the parts that Law and Black ended up filling. "I was in a hotel room with Robert Downey Jr., Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet, and we read this script... I said, 'If Jack Black says no to this movie, I'm so in. I'll do it for half his price,'" Fallon told Howard Stern, alongside the Iron Man actor.

Unfortunately, the film's director Nancy Meyers rejected them (at least in a nice way), saying: "This was great. It's just not a perfect fit. It's not a perfect fit." Stern then told the actors "that movie would have been so much better with the two of you guys."