Bowen Yang Confirms Shocking Midseason SNL Departure in Sweet Tribute

Role: Cast member
Time on SNL: 1985-1986

Long before Robert Downey Jr. was in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he was part of the Saturday Night Live universe.

The Iron Man star was on the show for only season 11, with him joining SNL the same year creator Lorne Michaels returned to the program after being away for five years. The Peacock documentary SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night called this period "The Weird Year" and described it as a tough time in which Lorne was trying to save the show from cancellation.

As Robert admitted on a 2016 episode of The Howard Stern Show, "It wasn't like we were blowing everyone's minds."

However, the Oscar winner noted he looks back at that stretch "fondly" and that it provided "great training." In fact, Robert, who returned to host SNL in 1996, told Howard Stern, "It is probably the most exciting week you can have on Earth."