Kristen Wiig felt 'a little lost' after leaving 'SNL'

Kristen Wiig felt ‘a little lost’ after leaving ‘SNL’

Kristen Wiig says she felt "a little lost" after leaving "Saturday Night Live."

By Nardine Saad

April 19, 2013 12 AM PT

Kristen Wiig says she felt “a little lost” after leaving “Saturday Night Live” to pursue other endeavors.

Wiig, 39, exited the show in May with an emotional waltz with Mick Jagger and send-off from Jon Hamm. And about a year after her departure, our favorite Target lady is opening up about adjusting to living post-”Live.”

“The show was seven years of my life and a six-day work week, and you’re constantly with your friends all day, all night,” she told Access Hollywood at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday.

PHOTOS: 13 memorable ‘SNL’ stars

“You sort of live and breathe the show,” she added. “Then, when it’s over, you kind of feel a little lost.... It was definitely an adjustment — even just the hours and [no longer] being in New York.”

She made her name on the show with memorable characters like the Midwest’s Aunt Linda, gross-out girl Shanna and memorable impressions of Kathie Lee Gifford and Kris Jenner. She also joined a long list of trailblazing comic actresses to bid adieu to the improv show, including Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph and Molly Shannon.

The Groundlings alum was nominated for four Emmys between 2009 and 2012 for “SNL” and received one Emmy nod for her voiceover work as Lola Bunny on “The Looney Tunes Show.”

But Wiig reached mega-success with 2011’s breakout hit “Bridesmaids,” which she co-wrote and starred in, and the raunchy comedy went on to be nominated for two Oscars. Most thought that was the reason she decided to leave the variety show, but she said she always knew her years there were numbered.

PHOTOS: ‘SNL’ movies: The good, bad and ugly

“I just always knew it was going to be seven and that was it,” Wiig said in the August 2012 issue of Marie Claire. “I think maybe if I were 22, I could see myself staying a little bit, but it just felt like the right time.”

She’s taken on quite a few movie projects since, including “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” with Ben Stiller, which she was promoting at CinemaCon, and the highly anticipated sequel “Anchorman: The Legend Continues” with Will Ferrell, which she’ll begin filming shortly.

“I’m leaving in a few days to go film that. I’m so excited!” she said. “I hope I can get through the scenes without ruining it by laughing! I’m so excited.”