Andy Samberg Jokes He Is 'Re-Inheriting the Stress' of Being on SNL Again: 'This Is Intense'

Andy Samberg is sharing why being on Saturday Night Live is an experience like no other.

On an episode on The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast, Samberg, 46, opened up to host Seth Meyers about making guest appearances on the popular sketch comedy show’s 50th season. The comedian said his return, which comes over a decade after he was a full-time cast member from 2005 until 2012, has been reminded of what his time on the series used to be like.

"It's been fun, I gotta say,” Samberg said. “It's been really fun going back, but again, also inheriting — re-inheriting — the stress of it and being like, 'Oh, right, this is intense.’”

The Brooklyn Nine-Nine alum is currently playing Doug Emhoff, husband to Vice President Kamala Harris (Maya Rudolph), amid her candidacy in the 2024 election. Compared to when he would play multiple parts each episode, the comedian admitted taking on the role of Emhoff has been less pressure.

“It’s a little more mellow — me and Maya [Rudolph] have been talking about [how] it’s a little bit more mellow because we know why we’re there specifically,” he explained. “But that last show, I was like, if this Beetlejuice thing doesn’t work, I’m just going to be here and not do anything. And that puts you right back in the feeling of being a cast member — of, you’re always at risk.”

On the Oct. 19 show, which was hosted by Michael Keaton, Samberg did a Beetlejuice skit with Mikey Day during the opening monologue. 

"Hey, don't you normally play Doug Emhoff in the cold opens?" Keaton joked in the episode.

"Yeah the writers couldn't jam him in," Samberg replied before putting on his Beetlejuice voice to say, "So, here we find ourselves!"

In July, Samberg shared the reason he left SNL during an interview with Kevin Hart on Peacock’s Hart to Heart, citing the toll it took on his well-being.

“For me, it was like, I can't actually endure it anymore. But I didn't want to leave. Physically and emotionally, I was falling apart in my life," he said.

“Physically, it was taking a heavy toll on me and I got to a place where I was like I hadn’t slept in seven years basically,” he added. “We were writing stuff for the live show Tuesday night all night, the table read Wednesday, then being told now come up with a digital short so write all Thursday, all Thursday night, don’t sleep, get up, shoot Friday, edit all night Friday night and into Saturday.”

“So it’s basically like four days a week you’re not sleeping, for seven years. I just kinda fell apart physically,” he added.

Comparing being on SNL “to being a professional athlete because it’s this high-pressure thing,” Samberg described the feeling as when “your adrenaline goes through the roof.”

The decision to leave wasn’t a hasty one — Samberg went on to say that he discussed it with other SNL alums first, including Amy Poehler.

"I had talked to Poehler and other people that had already gone,” he shared. “I was like, ‘Once I go, when I have an idea, I can't just do it.’ The craziest thing about working there is once you get going, if you're just in the shower and you have an idea, that s--- can be on television in three days, which is the most intoxicating feeling."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.