Ashley Padilla Learned of Mentor Diane Keaton’s Death During SNL Rehearsal: ‘I Had to Do My Job’
Photo: NBC (inset: Everett Collection)
Ashley Padilla has opened up about the moment she learned of Diane Keaton’s death, revealing how her Saturday Night Live colleagues “sprung into action” to comfort her.
The SNL breakout player–who previously worked as Diane Keaton’s assistant and cites the Oscar-winning icon as a mentor–recounted the “painful” moment in a new interview with Glamour.
When news broke of Keaton’s passing on October 11, Padilla and the rest of the SNL team were gearing up for that night’s episode with host Amy Poehler.
“That day was hard,” she admitted. “That was very painful and complicated because my job is to perform for people and make them feel happy and laugh. So I felt scared.”
Padilla had been in the middle of rehearsing the sketch “Theme Songs Masterclass,” which cast Padilla and several other featured players as Juilliard students sitting for a lecture from TV theme song composers played by Amy Poehler and Bowen Yang. She recalled that during downtime on set, the castmates all got to talking about where they went to college.
“Tommy Brennan says, ‘Oh, did you go to college?’” Padilla told Glamour. “And I said, ‘No, Diane Keaton gave me a job and saved my life.’”
Moments later, Padilla was given the news of Keaton’s passing. “It was this bizarre moment where you feel like you’re almost in a simulation or something,” she described. “It just didn’t feel real.
“That moment just broke me down,” she added.
Padilla began working as an assistant to Keaton about 10 years ago. Over time, Padilla came to take on more roles in Keaton’s life, including running the actress’ Instagram account and helping Keaton write the book Fashion First.
She went on to detail her reaction to Keaton’s death, noting that the cast and crew of SNL helped her through the difficult day.
“I went into my dressing room, and everyone there just sprung into action in a way that I could not believe,” said Padilla, praising her colleagues. “They’re just the best people in the world who work so hard while simultaneously making me feel like I’m going to be okay, and I don’t need to hide how I’m feeling, and everyone’s going to be there for me.”
Padilla performed as planned on that night’s episode, which featured an in-memoriam card for Keaton just before the goodnights.
“It really was, ironically, the best place to be during that moment. It is oddly the best place to be during a high stress or emotional situation,” Padilla said of SNL. “These people have your back. They understand. They’re good people.”
