Ashley Padilla was shopping with her mom at Glendale’s Americana at Brand outdoor mall in September 2024 when the news was announced: She had just been added to “Saturday Night Live” as a featured player.

Padilla had just collaborated with her old boss, Diane Keaton, on a new book, “Fashion First,” and was purchasing copies at Barnes & Noble when she received word that the news was about to break. “I was terrified,” she remembers. “I was scared people would go, ‘Ew, her! Why that face? Why that person?’ So I bought my book at Barnes & Noble, and we sat and waited. It makes me sick thinking about it!”

It was Padilla’s mom who broke the tension by speaking to the woman sitting next to them, who was being extra chatty. “I told her about the book that I just made, and I ended up giving her one that I bought,” Padilla recalls. “And then my mom was like, ‘She’s about to be on SNL!’ And so the woman took a picture with me. That was the first person that we told!”

That woman may not realize it, but her impromptu photo with Padilla might now be a collector’s item. Since Padilla joined “SNL” during its landmark 50th season in fall 2024, she’s quickly become the sketch series’ breakout star.

Padilla met up with Variety‘s Awards Circuit Podcast to discuss her journey and also take the 10 Questions Quiz. Listen below!

According to Latenighter.com, Padilla held the crown for the recently wrapped Season 51 as the cast member with the show’s most screentime and appearances — the first time a featured player has led that tally. Among this year’s highlights: Padilla as a suburban mom who slowly, and painfully, admits that she might be changing her mind on Donald Trump.

The Livermore, Calif., native moved to Los Angeles in 2014 to pursue comedy, but says she didn’t necessarily have a plan in place. “I was just following the funny,” she says. “I was like, ‘this is where I’m excelling. I like it here. I really like performing as a character.”

Padilla found her footing as a member of the famed Groundlings troupe, which she calls “comedy college.”

“You do a bunch of levels at Groundlings, where you’re just improvising with people, and then you hit a level where they’re like, ‘OK, now you need to write your thoughts, you need to write the joke,’” she says. “That was so intimidating, but it taught me to write sketches for myself — which I’ve now brought to the show.”

That Groundlings training clearly paid off with “SNL.” Padilla admits that she still finds it “shocking” that she’s on the legendary series — and how the reaction to her has been so overwhelmingly positive.

“It blows my mind, because I just want to do the work so badly,” she says. “I assumed people would go, ‘look, we hate her, it’s not happening for us.’ You write your sketches, and it’s your brain that you’re also laying out on the table. You’re saying, ‘this is what I think is funny,’ and it’s very vulnerable. And so the fact that people are enjoying it is something I could have never asked for.”

It’s also a bit overwhelming because Padilla likes to remain an intensely private person. She has mostly avoided social media, and doesn’t find much enjoyment in posting elements from her life. “I do my best work when I’m focused and not distracted, and I think sometimes that place, online, can feel a little distracting.

“I think that’s what it is, too, is I live such a boring life,” she says of her limited online presence. “I’m like, what am I gonna show? That I’m watching ‘Survivor’ again and eating tuna?” Actually, that sounds like a pretty good “SNL” sketch.

1. Childhood nickname: “My sister used to call me ‘Ass Pee.’ Instead of Ashley. It’s hurtful, and people shouldn’t be called that!”

2. Something you loved as a kid but can’t believe you were into it now: “When I was really young, I was in love with pretending to be a witch. So that’s odd, and I promise I don’t do that anymore. It’s like a weird thing I did, thought I could like do potions and stuff!”

3. Go-to Karaoke or sing-in-the-shower song: “Anything that’s on, or a lot of Ariana Grande.”

4. Give me an alternate title for your show:  [not asked]

5. What’s your secret talent?: “I can do this with my tongue. I should have done that in my ‘SNL’ test.”

7. The one item you couldn’t live without: “My brain said my family, and that’s not what this is.”

8. What TV show in all of history do you wish you were a cast member of?: “‘The Office.’ I watch that thing and I just rewatch it and rewatch it.”

9. Fictional character you most admire: Carrie Bradshaw.