Julia Sweeney SNL Doc Clip | New Release
dive into the legacy of Julia Sweeney’s iconic SNL character, Pat, with the new documentary, We Are Pat. This film, premiering at the Tribeca film Festival, offers a nuanced exploration of Pat’s impact on gender non-conforming representation, challenging viewers to consider if this character was a nonbinary icon or a complex trope. We Are Pat features interviews with queer and trans comedians, offering diverse perspectives on a figure who challenged gender norms long before the term “nonbinary” gained mainstream recognition. Director Ro Haber aims to spark a conversation about humor, transness, and identity, providing fresh context for Pat’s relevance today. News Directory 3 is excited to share this news. Discover the insights of comedians like Molly Kearney, who are part of the film’s discussion, and explore the evolution of how we perceive gender on screen. What conversations will this documentary spark next?
‘We Are Pat’ Documentary Explores SNL’s Nonbinary Icon
Updated June 04,2025
The upcoming documentary,We Are Pat,delves into the legacy of Julia Sweeney’s androgynous Saturday Night Live character,Pat,examining its impact on gender non-conforming representation. The film premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival on Sunday, june 8.
Sweeney’s portrayal of Pat in the early 1990s pushed the boundaries of comedic androgyny, offering a prominent, albeit complex, representation of gender non-conformity long before the term “nonbinary” gained widespread use. The documentary seeks to explore the nuances of this representation.
Director Ro Haber said the goal was to create “a film about transness that had humor at the heart of it,” while grappling with intricate feelings about Pat. Haber questioned whether Pat was a nonbinary icon or a transphobic trope, emphasizing the importance of curiosity and conversation over judgment.
A clip from We Are Pat features Karam Ann, a professor of TV studies, highlighting Pat’s prescience considering contemporary discussions around nonbinary identity and they/them pronouns. Actor and filmmaker River Gallo notes the indefinable nature of nonbinary identity, finding Pat’s character relevant in that context.
The film includes interviews with queer and trans comedians and writers such as Molly Kearney, Esther Fallick, Abby McEnany, Pink Foxx, and Roz Hernandez. Sweeney and her former SNL co-star Kevin Nealon also participated.
Haber said one of the most profound things they learned while making the film was from Sweeney, who created Pat while grappling with her “own gendered pressure as a woman trying to make it in the Ninetes boys club of comedy and SNL.”
Haber explained that Pat emerged from Sweeney’s experiences with societal expectations of femininity,offering her an escape. Sweeney is quoted in the film saying, “It was actually a joy to be Pat because I got to have a break from having to be a girl too.”
What’s next
We Are Pat promises to spark dialogue about representation, comedy, and evolving understandings of gender identity, solidifying its place in discussions about nonbinary issues and the history of gender representation in media.