Kate McKinnon turned one of comedy’s most high-pressure jobs into a springboard for a radically quieter life. After a decade on “Saturday Night Live” and years based in New York City, the performer has traded late-night studios and red carpets for trees, soil and a self-described existence “in the woods.” Her shift from sketch institution to homesteader is not a retreat from work, but a deliberate reset shaped by fame, burnout and a search for a different kind of creativity.
The move has unfolded alongside a busy screen career and new projects, including a science fiction film and children’s books, indicating that McKinnon is not stepping away from the industry so much as renegotiating how and where she participates in it. Her comments around Sundance and in follow-up interviews sketch a portrait of someone who hit a professional peak, recognized the personal cost and decided to build a life that could withstand both success and uncertainty.
From SNL Spotlight to a Life “in the Woods”
Kate McKinnon Berthold, known professionally as Kate McKinnon, spent years in the national spotlight as an Emmy-winning cast member on “Saturday Night Live,” building a reputation for sharp political impressions and offbeat characters that helped define the show through the 2010s. Her profile expanded into major films, including high-profile Hollywood projects such as “Barbie,” cementing her status as one of the most recognizable comedy performers of her generation and anchoring her biography as an American comedian. That run coincided with years spent in New York City, where the pace of live television and constant public attention shaped her daily routine.
After her time living in New York City and starring on “Saturday Night Live,” McKinnon has been clear that she did not simply downshift to a quieter neighborhood. She has said she “moved to the woods” and is “doing that pretty hard,” describing a rural setup that is a stark contrast to studio corridors and Manhattan streets. In a Facebook recap of her post-show life, she confirmed that she is “living in the woods” after leaving the sketch institution, a choice that reframes her as someone who stepped away at a high point rather than riding the job indefinitely.
Why Kate McKinnon Left the City for the Trees
McKinnon has tied the move directly to the intensity of her SNL years and the need for a complete reset. Speaking at the Sundance Film Festival, where she attended the premiere of the science fiction project “In the Blink of an Eye,” she explained that after bidding farewell to SNL she chose to live outside the city and embrace a far more solitary routine. In an interview shared through a detailed breakdown of why, she framed the decision as both practical and emotional, a way to decompress from a schedule that left little space for rest.
At Sundance, McKinnon told PEOPLE that the homesteader lifestyle has become a genuine commitment, not a temporary experiment. She described her current home environment as “in the woods,” saying the quiet helps her feel prepared for whatever comes next in her career and in the wider world, a sentiment captured in an exclusive conversation at the festival. Framing the move as preparation rather than escape suggests that she sees rural life as a form of resilience, a way to stay grounded while continuing to take on ambitious film work like “In the Blink of an Eye” and other Hollywood projects that demand intense bursts of attention.
Homesteader, Farmer, Apocalypse Prepper
McKinnon’s description of her new routine goes beyond simply living outside a major city. She has said that she left SNL and almost immediately decided she was “a farmer” and “a carpenter,” embracing a hands-on homesteader identity that involves growing her own food and maintaining a property in the woods. An in-depth profile of her post-SNL life details how she now spends significant time tending to a rural home, with the piece even characterizing her as a kind of apocalypse prepper whose skills could be useful if modern conveniences falter, a portrayal captured in coverage of her homestead and prepper.
Friends and collaborators have backed up that image, describing her commitment to this lifestyle as serious rather than a bit. In one account, Amy Poehler, identified in coverage as “Poeh,” observed that after such an intense run on live television, it made sense for McKinnon to seek somewhere “quieter and more peaceful,” and noted that her former colleague really does seem to be a homesteader for real, as detailed in a follow-up look at her homesteader lifestyle. Earlier commentary also highlighted how, after leaving SNL, McKinnon quickly embraced farming and even children’s book writing, with one profile noting that she told an audience she simply decided she was a farmer and then made it true, as captured in a feature on how she became a farmer after SNL.
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