Saturday Night Cast and Character Guide

Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night is one of the most anticipated movies of the year. It promises to detail the tumultuous events leading up to the show’s premiere on October 11, 1975. It won’t shy away from detailing the complicated relationships between members of the cast, writers, and all the drama that unfolded behind the scenes – making it all the more impressive when the show ultimately premieres as everyone knows it does.

The greatest task the movie faced was finding the perfect cast to retell this story for later generations. So many people contributed to bringing the first episode of Saturday Night Live to the air, and each of them had to be played to perfection. Here’s a guide to everyone appearing in the upcoming movie and where you might have seen their actors before.

Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels

Gabriel LaBelle will play perhaps the most well-known figure associated with the beginning of Saturday Night Live: its creator, Lorne Michaels. Though he may not have ever appeared as one of the cast members himself, preferring instead to work behind the scenes to execute his vision, his influence on both the show and the comedic genre as a whole cannot be overstated. He’s remained with the show since its inception and played an instrumental part in ensuring that the premiere went off without a hitch. Casting him was one of the most important things for the film to get right, and from the first trailer, it looks as though Gabriel LaBelle was the perfect selection.

LaBelle, best known for his work in The Fabelmans, will bring the legendary producer to life in this adaptation. He may be one of Hollywood’s youngest talents, but he’s already one of its most accomplished. For his work as Teenage Sammy, he earned recognition as a TIFF Rising Star, the Best Young Performer award at the Critics’ Choice Awards, and Best Breakthrough Performance from the National Board of Review (though he shared this final award with Danielle Deadwyler for her work in Till). He’s a brilliant actor, and he’ll bring Lorne Michaels to life as faithfully as possible.

Rachel Sennott as Rosie Shuster

Rosie Shuster’s legacy at Saturday Night Live is one of the strongest, and the echoes of her work can still be felt today. She created some of the most iconic running characters of the show’s early years, ranging from the Killer Bees to Roseanne Roseannadanna. She’ll likely serve as a window into the hectic nature of determining how to write for comedy and adapt to the demands of a live audience both in the studio and at home. Her relationship with both the other writers and with Lorne Michaels himself (who she was momentarily married) will provide a bit of an emotional heart to the film and make the stakes feel even higher and more personal.

Rachel Sennott has proved a thousand times over that she has some of the strongest comedic chops in the film industry as we know it. Her background writing and performing her stand-up bits makes her perfectly suited to step into the world of writing for SNL, even just in a fictional context such as this. Her timing is impeccable – it’s primarily because of her (and Ayo Edebiri) that Bottoms works as well as it does, and she anchors Shiva Baby in a sense of realism that would have otherwise been lost amidst the chaos of the film’s premise.

Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase

Though Chevy Chase has tarnished his legacy in recent years through allegations of problematic behavior on other sets, his role in the foundation of SNL is undeniable. Though he only remained with the show for two seasons – small numbers compared to many others who stayed in the cast for years on end – he was the first to anchor the long-running segment Weekend Update, which is still one of the show’s hallmarks today. After his time on NBC’s stage, he starred in countless classic comedy movies like the National Lampoon franchise and Caddyshack.

Cory Michael Smith, perhaps best known for his portrayal of the Riddler on Gotham, has the difficult task of bringing him to life on screen for new generations. He’s a frequent collaborator of director Todd Haynes and has worked with him on renowned films like Carol and May December. Saturday Night marks one of the actor’s first forays into comedy, and it’ll be interesting to see his take on a character with such a distinct comedic style.

Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner

Gilda Radner, one of the original members of the Saturday Night Live cast, was best known during her tenure on the show for parodying television personality archetypes, such as advice columnists and news anchors. She was the first person cast for Saturday Night Live, and one of the most talented comedians who has ever lived – leading her to earn an Emmy for her work on the television series. She worked closely with the writers to create many of her beloved characters, and their dynamic will likely be explored in the film.

Ella Hunt, best known for her portrayal of Sue Gilbert on Dickinson, will play Radner in Saturday Night. On the AppleTV+ show, Hunt demonstrated her remarkable ability to balance comedy and drama. This could give her a chance to provide a real heart to a movie that promises to be as chaotic as the events it draws inspiration from, especially since many believed Radner to be one of the most grounded people in the cast.

Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd

Dan Aykroyd is one of the best-known comedy stars of all time. In the early stages of the show, Aykroyd worked as both a performer and a writer and helped conceptualize some of the most iconic sketches of all time – primarily those involving the Coneheads and the Blues Brothers. After his four years on the show, he starred in iconic movies like Ghostbusters, The Blues Brothers, Driving Miss Daisy, and The Great Outdoors, many of which he also worked on the screenplays for. He’s immensely talented and beloved by fans, so whoever was tasked with playing him had massive shoes to fill.

Saturday Night found its perfect Aykroyd in Dylan O’Brien, who rose to prominence in the early 2010s when he took on the role of Stiles Stilinski on Teen Wolf. He then booked the lead in the dystopian series The Maze Runner, appearing in all the entries to the franchise and catapulting to further greatness. O’Brien proved his comedic ability through a series of guest appearances on sitcoms like Curb Your Enthusiasm, New Girl, and The Other Two. It’ll be interesting to see his take on such a well-known figure, and he’s sure to be a perfect choice.

Emily Fairn as Laraine Newman

Laraine Newman, one of the original cast members of Saturday Night Live, left her mark on the show through characters like Connie Conehead and Christie Christina. Lorne Michaels found her through her work with improv group The Groundlings and invited her to work with him on a television special for Lily Tomlin. Then, he asked her to be part of Saturday Night Live. After her five years on the show, she moved on to the world of voice acting. In the years since her departure, she’s lent her voice to characters in Tangled, Ponyo, and Shrek Forever After.

Emily Fairn, best known for her work in a stage adaptation of Brokeback Mountain, will portray Newman in the film. Saturday Night marks one of her first major credits, and she’s sure to dazzle everyone who comes out to see her.

Matt Wood as John Belushi

John Belushi is one of the best-known SNL cast members of all time, with eighty-three regular-season appearances to his name. Over his stint on the program, he was fired and rehired multiple times, but this complicated relationship with the show didn’t stop him from being named the most influential cast member ever by Rolling Stone. After he departed the show for good, he frequently collaborated with other SNL alums such as Dan Aykroyd in The Blues Brothers before his tragic death at the age of thirty-three.

Matt Wood is a fairly new face in the acting business; this is his first major role. Previously, he appeared as Officer Kenneth Parker on Law and Order: SVU and as Justin in a single episode of Instinct. His role as Belushi will likely elevate him to stardom and kickstart his career. It’ll be incredible to see him bring the comedy legend to life in this film.

Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris

Garrett Morris was the first Black cast member on Saturday Night Live and spent five years on the show. Lorne Michaels discovered him as a writer after reading a play that Morris wrote, and he was so impressed with it that he talked about bringing him in as one of the first writers for SNL. After Michaels watched Morris’s film Cooley High, he asked him if he would be willing to appear as one of the cast members as well. He was best known for characters like Chico Escuela and the recurring Weekend Update guest known only as the “President for the New York School for the hard of hearing.”

Sitcom star Lamorne Morris is set to appear as Garrett Morris in Saturday Night. He’s proven his comedic ability through characters like Winston Bishop, one of Jess’s roommates, on New Girl. More recently, however, he veered into the dramatic with an appearance as state trooper Witt Farr on the fifth season of Fargo. For that performance, he has been nominated for the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.

Kim Matula as Jane Curtin

Jane Curtin is one of the most decorated members of the Saturday Night Live cast. She pulled off the remarkable feat of winning back-to-back Emmys for her post-SNL work on the sitcom Kate and Allie, demonstrating just how incredible of a performer she is. Her deadpan style set her apart from many other comedians of the era, making her one of the most instantly recognizable people in the industry as a whole. During the later years of her tenure on SNL, she anchored the wildly popular Weekend Update segment alongside Dan Aykroyd and later, Bill Murray.

Kim Matula got her start on the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. She played Hope Logan, and for this role, she earned a nomination for Best Younger Actress at the Daytime Emmys. Since then, she’s gone on to star in movies like Fighting with My Family with big-name stars like Florence Pugh.

Finn Wolfhard as an NBC Page

The role of the NBC page in Saturday Night remains pretty unclear, all things considered. The pages do all sorts of things at NBC headquarters, including working on high-profile productions like episodes of Saturday Night Live. They aid the studio with various tasks, including PR, marketing, and production – though it’s not certain which of these fields the page in the film will be focused on. Likely, he’ll be something like an errand boy, running from place to place as he tries to help everyone behind the scenes determine if they are ready to go to air. He could even function as a bit of an audience stand-in.

He’ll be played by Finn Wolfhard, best known for his work on Stranger Things, It, and in the rebooted entries to the Ghostbusters franchise. Wolfhard is one of the most talented young performers out there, as he’s been the anchor of Stranger Things since he was young and is a major factor in the show’s success. He’s sure to bring a genuine earnestness to his role, allowing audiences to empathize with his character and place themselves in his shoes.

Nicholas Braun as Andy Kaufman and Jim Henson

Initially, Nicholas Braun was only supposed to appear as Jim Henson, best known for being the creator of the remarkably famous Muppets characters. However, after Bennie Safdie had to depart from the project due to scheduling conflicts, he took on the role of Andy Kaufman as well. Kaufman was unique among the cast in that he didn’t consider himself a comedian – rather, he believed that he was simply an entertainer. After all, he could never guarantee that he would make someone laugh, but he would always promise that they would somehow be entertained by his antics.

Braun is best known for his work as Greg on Succession, for which he took home three Emmys throughout the show’s four seasons. In the time since the show ended, he’s gone on to appear in the divisive Nicolas Cage film Dream Scenario. Earlier in his career, he starred in the Disney Channel Original Film Princess Protection Program and in the teen classic The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Cooper Hoffman as Dick Ebersol

Dick Ebersol may not have been a cast member on Saturday Night Live, but regardless, he was instrumental to its success. Alongside a few other executives at NBC, he approached Lorne Michaels about producing something to fill the empty time slot at 11:30 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time on Saturdays. Thus, Michaels created Saturday Night Live, and the rest is history. Ebersol went on to be an executive producer on the show and eventually became the senior vice president of NBC’s news division.

He’ll be portrayed in the upcoming film by young star Cooper Hoffman. Hoffman first burst onto the scene as the lead of 2021’s Licorice Pizza, directed by the renowned Paul Thomas Anderson. He then went on to work with director Ethan Hawke and his daughter Maya in Wildcat, which focused on the life of Flannery O’Connor and the intersection of her faith with her art. He’s one of the most promising young stars of today, and will only grow more well-known with his work in Saturday Night.

Kaia Gerber as Jacqueline Carlin

Jacqueline Carlin is best known for being the first woman to ever appear on Saturday Night Live when she appeared in the first episode’s “New Dad” skit, though she worked mostly as an extra rather than a central cast member. Primarily, however, she was a model. She was momentarily married to SNL star Chevy Chase (though, interestingly, not at the time that the movie took place, though their relationship may have been in its early stages during the show’s first few months).

She’ll be portrayed in the upcoming film by fellow model-turned-actress Kaia Gerber. Gerber, like her Saturday Night co-star Rachel Sennott, proved her comedic ability a thousand times over with her work as Brittany in the hit 2023 comedy Bottoms, and it’ll be interesting to watch her bring that aspect of her talent to the forefront again in this film.

Andrew Barth Feldman as Neil Levy

Neil Levy mostly worked behind the scenes of Saturday Night Live. In addition to being one of the first writers on the show, he worked as a talent coordinator as well. Likely, the film will dive into this second part of his role as he tries to navigate the tumultuous waters of these celebrities’ relationships with each other and ensure that the first episode of the show goes off without a hitch.

Andrew Barth Feldman got his start in musical theatre when he appeared as the titular character in the Tony-winning Dear Evan Hansen. From there, he moved into smaller roles on television series like High School Musical the Musical the Series for Disney+ before eventually booking the lead in No Hard Feelings alongside Jennifer Lawrence. He proved his comedic talent numerous times through his roles and is sure to bring a new dimension to the writer he is portraying.

Tommy Dewey as Michael O’Donoghue

It’s safe to say that without Michael O’Donoghue, Saturday Night Live as fans know it today would not exist. Lorne Michaels named him head writer for the show’s first season – and he even went on to deliver the first line ever said on the show in a sketch opposite John Belushi. However, he was notoriously difficult to work with. The film will likely capitalize on this quality to increase the tension of the actors’ preparation to take on such a massive endeavor as bringing this show to life for the very first time.

He’ll be portrayed in the film by Tommy Dewey, best known up to this point for his work on sitcoms like The Mindy Project, where he got his start. More recently, he’s appeared on the Hulu series Casual, where he plays the main character’s younger brother and the founder of a popular dating website.

Willem Dafoe as David Tebet

David Tebet played a major role in recruiting a lot of the talent to Saturday Night Live. Once he got them there, he then had to keep them happy and prevent them from leaving NBC. This will likely be the core of his arc throughout the film as he navigates the treacherous waters of these young performers and their dynamics with one another.

He’s being played by Hollywood legend Willem Dafoe, who is known for his ability to bring a range of characters with all sorts of traits to life. Throughout his prolific career, he’s played countless heroes, villains, and anyone in between them on a moral scale. He’s one of the most brilliant living actors, and it’ll be great to see him take on a character like David Tebet in the film.

Matthew Rhys as George Carlin

George Carlin was the first-ever host of Saturday Night Live. Thus, he needed to appear in the film, as he set the precedent for celebrity hosts to come. His opening monologue has gone down as one of the most iconic moments in television history. Other than that, he’s known for his fourteen stand-up comedy specials for HBO and his performances in various popular comedy films like Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

He’ll be played in the film by Matthew Rhys, who is primarily known for his work as the titular character in Perry Mason. Additionally, he lent his voice to The Owl House as Emperor Belos (the chief antagonist of the show, it’s worth noting) and appeared in the 2023 cult classic Cocaine Bear.

Taylor Gray as Al Franken

Though Al Franken may be best known for his stint as a Minnesota senator, he got his start on Saturday Night Live. At the time the movie was set, he worked as a writer. For his work on the show, he earned a total of fifteen Emmy nominations, winning five of them, and created figures like Stuart Smalley who have since been recognized in the canon of greatest SNL characters of all time. He departed and rejoined the show many times before ultimately giving up entirely in 1995 when he lost out on becoming the Weekend Update anchor in favor of Norm MacDonald.

He’ll be played by Taylor Gray, who, up to this point, has been known mostly for his voice work. He starred as Ezra Bridger in all four seasons of Star Wars Rebels, helping to bring one of the most popular characters in the franchise to life for the first time. In addition, he starred as the lead in the film Thunderstruck alongside basketball star Kevin Durant. This is one of his first major roles, and he’s sure to shine.

Mcabe Gregg as Tom Davis

Similar to Al Franken, Tom Davis got his start on Saturday Night Live as a writer – and the two even went on to become a highly recognizable comedy duo during their tenure on the show. Their friendship will likely be the core of their appearances in the film and will add to the chaos of navigating the complex relationships between the original cast members of Saturday Night Live.

Davis will be portrayed by newcomer Tom Davis in his major feature film debut. Before this, he worked primarily in television. He made guest appearances on shows like Shameless and The Mindy Project, proving that he can balance both drama and comedy with ease. It’ll be incredible for him to get the chance to perform at such a high level in this film.

Nicholas Podany as Billy Crystal

Billy Crystal is one of the most iconic comedy stars of all time, with roles ranging from When Harry Met Sally to Monsters, Inc., to The Princess Bride – but what many don’t know about him is that he was supposed to appear in the premiere of Saturday Night Live. However, his time with the show in those early years was cut tragically short. His sketch was removed from the show not long before it was supposed to go to air. However, this didn’t stop Crystal from hosting the show and later joining the main cast.

He’ll be played in the film by newcomer Nicholas Podany. The young actor, who graduated from Julliard only a few years ago, primarily worked onstage before his appearance on Saturday Night. Most significantly, he played Albus Severus Potter in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Joe Chrest as Herb Sargent

Herb Sargent worked as both a writer and a producer for Saturday Night Live throughout his time with NBC. He spent twenty years on the show, and though the film will only focus on the very beginning of those, it’ll be clear that he is one of the most influential people on the state of the show today. Mostly, he’s known for co-creating Weekend Update with Chevy Chase, leading to the development of one of the most popular segments on SNL today.

He’ll be played by Joe Chrest, who proved his comedic chops time and time again through his appearances in 21 Jump Street and its sequel. Saturday Night will see him reunite with Stranger Things co-star Finn Wolfhard, who plays his son on the show. Likely, Chrest will interact primarily with the other writers on the show, and it’ll be fun to watch their dynamic play out.