SNL alum Julia Sweeney reflects on return to Spokane as parade grand marshal
May 15-Spokane comedian, writer and "Saturday Night Live" alum Julia Sweeney finds herself celebrating a lot of milestones lately.
Sweeney, who got her start at the Los Angeles improv comedy troupe the Groundlings, marked the group's 50th anniversary a few years ago by participating in a "Sister Groundling Sketch Show." Last year, she attended the SNL 50th anniversary celebration and accompanying afterparties. She's participated in celebrations with her high school peers most recently, as Gonzaga Prep marked 50 years of coeducation this school year.
Sweeney, 66, said all the revelry has left her with an eerie feeling.
"The writer in me is like, 'I think it's coming to an end,' " Sweeney said with a laugh. "The documentary ends with me waving on the float. Well, I'm in a convertible actually."
The Spokane-raised star will serve as grand marshal of the Armed Forces Torchlight Parade on Saturday, leading marching bands, floats and trucks wrapped in bank logos from a convertible starting at 7:45 p.m. In a release announcing the honor, 2026 Spokane Lilac Festival President Monika Hawkinson said Sweeney is a natural fit.
"Her success, creativity and authenticity reflect the spirit of this year's theme, 'Embrace,' " Hawkinson said.
After graduating from the University of Washington, Sweeney moved to Los Angeles with hopes of striking it big. She followed the well-tread Groundlings-to-SNL pipeline, and spent four seasons as a regular cast member, establishing the well-recognized, and sometimes controversial, androgynous character, Pat.
Sweeney left the show in 1994, and went on to make two acclaimed stage monologues, "God Said 'Ha!' " and "Letting Go of God," before returning with "Older and Wider," after a more than 10 year hiatus from one-woman shows. She's made a litany of appearances on television and in movies, including as Aidy Bryant's mother in the Hulu series "Shrill."
It's a lot to hang a hat on, Sweeney said. She's working on a book, but she's not sure when it will be ready. She said she feels at a point in her life where she's ready to step out of the public view, and the parade honors serve as a punctuation mark to a strong career.
"If I didn't love L.A. and love my husband and daughter who love L.A., I would 100% live in Spokane," Sweeney said. "I'm so honored to do this."
Sweeney said a part of her wants her next act to be reclusive. If she winds up in the public eye, it won't be to talk about herself, but to advocate for causes she believes in, she said.
"There's a part of me that's very deep and very strong that I have ignored, that is the person who wants to join a convent," Sweeney said. "And of course, I can't join a convent because I don't believe in God and I'm married. There's a bunch of barriers to that."
Sweeney still makes it back to Spokane often to visit family. As she's caught up with old classmates and participated in the Lilac Festival revelry, she's also made time to see the city, she said.
"I'm just walking through Riverfront Park, and I went up to Manito and walked through the lilacs, and they're all blooming," Sweeney said. "I'm getting, like, 17,000 steps a day."
Sweeney said Spokane was a great place to grow up. It's a midsized city with easy access to the outdoors, while still maintaining an urban feel. She said there's also certain opportunities afforded to residents that would be harder to access in a larger city; while Spokane has income inequality, it's not as deeply rooted as larger cities.
"That gives a lot of opportunity to people to move around and try things they might never have tried," Sweeney said. "That's probably the thing I really appreciate about Spokane, which was, of course, completely out of my hands. It was just fate and luck that had me be born here and have it turn out to be such a good experience."
Sweeney is a firm believer that her career came through an elaborate series of breaks. Her advice is to truly enjoy the successes and surprises as they come - she's not one to believe things are meant to be.
"I just think there's a whole bunch of series of accidents in your life, and you just go this way and that, and then in the end, certain things happen or don't happen," Sweeney said. "You really don't have that much control over it, so it's kind of funny."
"Now I'm like, 'Oh, wow, that was a funny life.' "
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This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 7:13 PM.