Former “Saturday Night Live” star Kate McKinnon has come a long way since her days on the NBC show—both physically and mentally—having turned her back on the trappings of Hollywood in favor of living the quiet life on a “homestead” in the woods, where she is busy preparing for a potential apocalypse.
The 41-year-old comedian, who spent 10 years as one of the leading ladies on “SNL”—opened up about her incredibly rural lifestyle during an appearance on fellow NBC alum Amy Poehler‘s podcast, “Good Hang,” revealing how her life has changed since she left the show.
McKinnon began by admitting there are some downsides to the homesteader lifestyle, revealing to Poehler, 54, and her listeners that her face was “covered in poison ivy,” although her host insisted that the rash was not visible on camera.
Still, the actress and funny woman has managed to build up plenty of experience as a true homesteader, revealing that she’s been actively involved in the lifestyle for the last three years, having moved out to the “woods” when her time on “SNL” came to an end.
And it seems she’s found her happy place, with McKinnon telling Poehler: “I belong on the homestead.”
When asked whether her love of nature was newly formed, or was a long-harbored passion, McKinnon was quick to respond that she has been a fan of the great outdoors since she was a young child being raised in Sea Cliff, NY.
As a child, she said she spent as much time outside as possible—and even tried to foster her love of all creatures in other, slightly more obscure places.
“I loved bugs and science and making nature crafts,” she recalled. “I remember making little bits of mud and putting them places.
“I remember every time we went to a seafood restaurant, I would say, ‘Mom, can I take the empty clam, mussel, and lobster shells home with me and put them in the bathtub?’
“And after rinsing them of marinara sauce, she would let me put them in the bathtub and I would get in with them.”
But her newfound love of homesteading extends far beyond her desire to spend time in nature; McKinnon confessed that, in addition to enjoying the great outdoors, she is also working to gain skills that will enable her to “survive the apocalypse,” including growing her own food and building things.
However, she was quick to joke that her ambitions as far as doomsday prepping are concerned don’t include outliving the rest of humanity.
“I think the reason I’ve done it is that I believe very much that we are doomed and my goal is surviving the apocalypse—for four days,” she added.
“And I know I wouldn’t make it past two hours, but I’d like to think that I could go 48 [hours] and I would be crying the whole time. But I would like the lack of invitations to social gatherings in the apocalypse. That would be fun.”
“It’s fascinating that you were in a bustling city on a bustling show. And it makes total sense that you want to go somewhere and get a little bit quieter and more peaceful after that experience,” Poehler said.
McKinnon noted that she loves homesteading and has always wanted to do it, however, her true dream was being on “SNL.”
“Well, let’s be honest. I feel like I had one dream. One dream. It was ‘SNL.’ Did it. Done. Loved it. Awesome,” she said.
“‘SNL’ took up so much of all of our lives and and when it’s over it just leaves a time hole, and so I had to fill my time hole.
“So I’ve done that, I’ve tried to be useful in growing food and I’ve also taken up carpentry as well.”
This isn’t the first time the “SNL” alum has spoken about her lifestyle.
She previously told Drew Barrymore, “I left ‘SNL’ and then the next day I was like, ‘I’m a farmer, I’m a carpenter.’ And so I moved to the woods and now I’m a farmer and a carpenter, and I grow my own food and I’m just building stuff.”
The TV star noted that although she was grateful for all the eyes on her thanks to “SNL,” she wanted a quieter lifestyle.
“I also had this growing desire to be a homesteader for real. And then after a while I was just like, ‘I grew a tomato! Yes, I’m great. I’m fine.’ And I want you to grow a tomato too. And you can,” she said.