Just how bad do you want to be on Saturday Night Live?

This is the question homegrown Alexandria talent Casey Wilson knew Lorne Michaels would ask her at an interview with the SNL producer in December. So when she mentioned it to her dad, Paul Wilson, on the eve of the big sit-down, its no wonder he couldnt sleep.

Lying in bed at 4 in the morning, Paul kept thinking, What would my wife, Kathy, have done to help Casey in this situation? Moments later Paul found himself in his daughters childhood bedroom. He had answered his own question: Violate the rules and read her diaries.

Severe? Yes. Invasive? Perhaps. Cruel? Not in the least. The ends justified the means, because on the twelfth page of Caseys diary in the lower left hand corner were the words, My dream in life is to be on Saturday Night Live.

I can hear Dana Carvey in church drag now: Isnt that special?

Paul faxed the diary page to Caseys hotel in New York, and implored the bell hop to slip it under her door. Sure enough, when Michaels questioned her devotion, she pulled out the personal page from her youth when she attended TC Williams High School and the little girl who produced countless versions of Cats in her Rosemont backyard became the newest cast member on Saturday Night Live.

Wilsons new gig has been speculated about for months, but Michaels finally made it official when he spoke with The New York Post Wednesday. I think you will love her, Michaels told the Post.

Wilson herself was not available for comment, Paul said, because she was in New York sitting on the floor, leaning on Darrel Hammonds knees in a pitch session with fellow writers, actors and this Saturdays host, Tina Fey. Wilson pitched two stories to Fey, one of which she liked, according to Paul, who spoke with his daughter on the phone afterwards. 

Admittedly affected by the, um, intricacies of his then-teenage daughters diary, Paul has since recovered. Im above cloud nine, on the moon, Paul said proudly. Its an honor for Alexandria too she was born and bred here in the public school system.

In middle and high school, Wilson had roles in the school plays mostly drama and musicals but after she graduated from TC, she attended the Stella Adler Studio at New York University where she developed a love for comedy, according to her brother Fletcher Wilson, also of Alexandria.

I think when she got to college, she realized comedy was her true calling, Fletcher said. Although honestly, she has talked about wanting to be on SNL since she was a kid.

Wilson went on to perform at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatres in Los Angeles and New York, where she co-created the two-woman sketch comedy show Rode Hard and Put Away Wet with friend June Raphael. The show was an official selection of the 2005 HBO Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, CO. The pair won Best Comic Duo in 2005 from the Emerging Comics of New York.

So how did she get so funny? Her brother and father both attribute that honor to Caseys mother, Kathy. We always just kind of had a funny family, Fletcher said. I think she got her edgy sense of humor from our mother, who would often say the opposite of what you expected, usually involving some form of cursing.

Yes, Casey has joined the cast, said Marc Leicas of NBC Universal. Leicas, speaking from New York, described Wilson as a featured player on the top-rated show, entering its 629th show after delays caused by the writers strike.  

Its probably fair to say that Casey Wilson will be interpreted as Alexandrias most famous export since the 1971 Titans football team. The city is buzzing with friends proud to have grown up with her and the family that supported her craft.

But Fletcher sums up the Alexandrians newfound celebrity best: I do look forward to being commonly introduced as Casey Wilson’s brother, he said.