Leslie Jones appreciates a good surprise.

On a recent Tuesday evening at NBC’s headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, Ms. Jones was in an eighth-floor dressing room, still recuperating from a comedic “Game of Thrones” recap she had just recorded for “Late Night With Seth Meyers.” In the midst of discussing that HBO fantasy series with Mr. Meyers, she was startled by an unannounced walk-on from the “Game of Thrones” co-star Conleth Hill, who plays the enigmatic spymaster Varys, and it delighted Ms. Jones to no end.

“They did really good,” she said afterward. “I had no clue whatsoever.”

Ms. Jones, 49, a “Saturday Night Live” cast member, got another pleasant revelation in July when she was nominated for her first Emmy Award as a supporting actress in a comedy series. The distinction — following an “S.N.L.” season that was widely watched for its topical satire and the impressions of performers like Alec Baldwin and Kate McKinnon — was particularly astonishing for Ms. Jones, who does not play any recurring political characters.

Nor does she aspire to: “I just like to bring the funny,” she said.

Ms. Jones spoke further about this past season at “S.N.L.,” her evolution as a performer and how she turned the difficult experience of an online hack into grist for her comedy. These are edited excerpts from that conversation.

You spend a lot of time live-tweeting “Game of Thrones” each week. Why are you so devoted to that show?