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Tim Bagley<\/strong><\/a> is looking back at trying to land a role on Saturday Night Live<\/strong><\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n In a new interview, the 67-year-old actor \u2013 who has appeared on shows including Grace & Frankie<\/em>, Will & Grace<\/em>, Web Therapy<\/em>, and Somebody Somewhere<\/em> \u2013 recalled being a member of the sketch comedy troupe the Groundlings back in the 1980s.<\/p>\n Despite being a part of the group that launched the careers of many SNL <\/em>stars, Tim<\/strong> claimed that back at that time, he couldn\u2019t audition for the NBC sketch comedy series because he was a publicly out gay man.<\/p>\n Keep reading to find out more\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/span>\u201cI was out as a gay man and people knew that they would not hire openly gay people,\u201d Tim<\/strong> alleged on The Julia Cunningham Show<\/a><\/em>, referencing SNL<\/em> boss Lorne Michaels<\/strong><\/a> and late manager Bernie Brillstein<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201c[They] had kind of a thing where they did not hire gay people, so I never got to audition,\u201d Tim<\/strong> continued. \u201cAll my friends did, and I was always kind of a standout at the Groundlings, but I was out. That [was] the problem with being out back then was there were no guardrails. I mean, if somebody didn\u2019t want to have you on their show, they just [didn’t have to]. They weren\u2019t trying to seek out LGBTQ people back then.\u201d <\/p>\n He added, \u201cIt\u2019s taken a long time, but the SNL<\/em> machine has kind of changed or shifted, and I know that there are people that have come out since.\u201d<\/p>\n Tim<\/strong> isn\u2019t the first person to accuses SNL<\/em> of not hiring openly gay people back in the day. In 2018, comedian James Adomian<\/strong> told The Daily Beast<\/a><\/em> that he believes he never landed a role on SNL<\/em>, despite auditioning several times in the early 2000s, because he is also openly gay.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not homophobic, but I\u2019m afraid that my audience is,\u201d James<\/strong> theorized SNL<\/em> execs believed at the time. \u201cI think that Lorne Michaels is afraid of America\u2019s dads\u2026 \u2018I\u2019m not gonna let my kid watch a show with a gay man!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Despite Tim<\/strong> and James<\/strong>\u2018 claims, Terry Sweeney<\/strong> was SNL<\/em>\u2018s first openly gay cast member, who joined the show for one season back in 1985, the same year Lorne<\/strong> returned as executive producer following a five-year hiatus.<\/p>\n In an interview on the SNL50<\/em> red carpet earlier this year, Terry<\/strong> admitted that his time on the show was not easy.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was tough for me. Some people wouldn\u2019t write for me because I was gay,\u201d Terry<\/strong> told The Wrap<\/a><\/em>. \u201cOr they go, \u2018I don\u2019t know what a gay\u2026\u2019\u2014like, they needed a mailman for a sketch. They go, \u2018Well, we don\u2019t need a gay mailman, so we can\u2019t use you.\u2019 I go, \u2018You know I can deliver mail?\u2019 So everything was like, \u2018You\u2019re gay and I don\u2019t really know what that world is about.\u2019 And the fact that I did drag, they were like, \u2018Is the circus coming to town?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n If you missed it, Kenan Thompson<\/strong><\/a> teased big changes for the next season<\/a> of Saturday Night Live<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n