For the lucky ones, Saturday Night Live is a launch pad for fame: Put in your time, get a few solid characters, spin a sketch into a feature film, and then leave the show to become a full-blown star.
But just because a cast member falls through the cracks, gets fired, or leaves after a single season, doesn't mean he/she isn't destined for greatness.
Here are 13 famous faces you may have forgotten were once part of the SNL cast.
Actors who got their start on "SNL">
SEE ALSO: 'Saturday Night Live' Finally Hires Black Female Cast Member
1. Ben Stiller quit "SNL" after four episodes to pursue filmmaking.
Early in his career, Ben Stiller made a short parody of the Tom Cruise movie The Color of Money that caught the attention of SNL, which aired it in 1987.
Those connections landed Stiller a spot in the SNL writer's room and as a featured player on the show. Unfortunately, Stiller quit after four episodes to further pursue filmmaking.
Everything came full circle though when he returned in 1998 to host and played Cruise in a "Celebrity Jeopardy" sketch.
2. Sarah Silverman made it just one season as an "SNL" writer.
Sarah Silverman's run at Saturday Night Live was one of bad luck. As a writer, not a single sketch of hers made it to air in her one season on the staff.
Still, she did appear in a handful of skits as a featured player before being let go.
She later said the experience destroyed her confidence but years later said she was glad SNL didn't define her career.
3. Robert Downey Jr. was a cast member in the turbulent 1985 season.
Before he was Iron Man, before he was even the bully in Weird Science, Robert Downey Jr. was a an SNL alum.
Unfortunately, Downey started on the show in 1985, one of the darkest year's in SNL history in terms of ratings and media criticism, so he was sacked along with most of the other new recruits following the '85 season.
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