In the history of Saturday Night Live, Chris Kattan may have never been as bright as Will Ferrell or Jimmy Fallon, but since the moment he joined, he has become an indispensable soul on the stage.He is known for shaping those neurotic, quirky and confident characters, the most classic of which is the impressive monkey, Mr. Peepers.

The character is wild, weird, and has a nearly provocative confidence.If Kattan had a little shaken or even a little self-doubt, this sketch would not have been so successful.It was his full commitment that made Mr. Peepers one of the most representative SNL characters in the 1990s:

However, despite his popularity in the late last century and early this century, he rarely appears on Saturday Night Live's guest list and rarely appears in TV series or movies.Why did the actor who once portrayed Mango and Gay Hitler gradually fade out of SNL's history?

The official statement is that Chris Kattan left "Saturday Night Live" in pursuit of a bigger dream.By May 2003, he had been fighting on this stage for eight seasons, and in that era when Kenan Thompson had not yet "ten years of persistence", it was a very long journey.As Entertainment Weekly reported at the time:

But even though Kattan compared SNL to his college career, suggesting that his real career has just begun, in fact, Saturday Night Live is still the most glorious chapter in his comedy career.For many SNL fans, Kattan's subsequent career trajectory seemed confusing, and it was not until his brief appearance on Dancing with the Stars in 2017 that everything became clear.

"'All good things have an end, and now it's a good time to leave,'" Kattan once said. "You can't think of seven years as college. You should leave when you still love the show, rather than wait until you feel resentful." He also recalled: "I did all kinds of things on the show: spitting apple cores on Tom Hanks' face, slapping Jennifer Lopez's ass... It's time to move forward."

But in "The Battle for the World", Kattan's performance was not ideal.He was stiff and the judges criticized his dancing skills.Shortly after the show was aired, Kattan revealed a secret that had been hidden for many years - it turned out that as early as 2001, he accidentally broke his neck during an SNL performance.

In that performance, he plays a child who tries to imitate Betty White’s role in “The Golden Girl”, but ends up hitting his head hard when he falls.While this video is not spread on YouTube, you can find it on NBC's SNL page.It seemed that it was nothing serious at the time, and Kattan himself did not realize the seriousness of the problem.

Due to the complexity of neck injury, it took a long time for the doctor to diagnose and develop a treatment plan.In his autobiography "Baby, Don't Hurt Me", he mentioned that he had undergone five neck surgeries before he could barely return to a near normal state.The severe pain caused during this period also made him reliant on painkillers, which eventually led to the breakdown of his first marriage.

Even after this, he has not fully recovered his former vitality.Even in 2017, the stiffness of that dance can be traced back to the old injuries of that year.Some may question Kattan's excuse for failure, but just look back at his agile, smooth body comedy performances in the early SNL, and you can understand that he would never have jumped like that without that serious neck injury.

This accident not only brought physical pain and career disruption, but also caused tensions with NBC.According to Kattan, only two of the five surgeries were borne by NBC, and they later even denied that he had suffered such injuries.

"They don't want to make this big deal." Kattan admitted, "For them, the actor's injury was just a small episode; but for me, it was a big event that affected my twenty years of life."

Nevertheless, Kattan did not feel resentful towards SNL or NBC.He himself hopes to downplay the impact of the accident."SNL is not only a job for me, but a part of my family. You won't sue your dad for what he did, do you?" he said with a smile in an interview. "I have been taught not to whine without any illness, so this time, I should have called for help, but I chose to remain silent."

Although Kattan did not serve as host again, he still returned to the SNL stage on special occasions.He has made several cameos in the years since his departure, including his return in 2006, 2011 and 2012.In these performances, his movements are obviously not as flexible as before, especially when he reinterpreted the classic song "I Wish It Was Christmas Today", the lightness that once disappeared: