PORTLAND, Ore. -- Michaela Watkins told The Oregonian in 2001 that she didn’t want to leave Portland for Los Angeles.

Photo courtesy: The Oregonian

Michaela Watkins

Watkins relocated to jumpstart her acting career -- and it seems to have paid off.

NBC announced Wednesday that Watkins will join the Saturday Night Live this weekend with host Paul Rudd.

SNL was left with some big shoes to fill when Amy Poehler departed for her new role of motherhood.

As a step in that direction, two fresh recruits, Watkins and Abby Elliott, will be joining the show this week as featured players..

Both women were members of a Los Angeles comedy troupe called the Groundlings, where past SNL players including Will Ferrell, Phil Hartman, Laraine Newman and current cast member Kristen Wiig got their start.

Watkins is originally from Syracuse, NY, but was a regular on Portland stages from 1996-2000 with Portland Center Stage.

She also worked with Artists Repertory Theatre, Triangle Productions and the now-defunct Portland Repertory Theatre.

Elliott comes to "SNL" via the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre -- the improv/sketch company co-founded by Poehler -- where she trained and performed in both New York and Los Angeles. She is a second-generation "SNL" cast member whose father, Chris Elliott, was a regular on the show during the 1994-95 season. (Her grandfather, Bob Elliott, was teamed for four decades with Ray Goulding in the comedy duo Bob & Ray.)

A native of Wilton, Conn., Elliott also trained with the Los Angeles-based Groundlings theater.

Poehler, a longtime "SNL" regular who is married to comedian Will Arnett, last performed on the Oct. 23 prime-time special. She gave birth to a son, Archie Arnett, just hours before she was to appear on the Oct. 25 broadcast.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.