Saturday Night Live will welcome five fresh faces to the cast of the sketch show, following a mass firing headed by creator Lorne Michaels that sent fans into an uproar. SNL has hired Ben Marshall, Veronika Slowikowska, Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane and Kam Patterson for the upcoming 51st season, following the departure of four fan-favorite stars. Michael Longfellow, Emil Wakim and Devon Walker were all let go in a shock firing, while news broke that longtime player Heidi Gardner was also leaving the show. It is not known whether she was fired from the job or chose not to renew her contract.
© Caro Scarimbolo/NBC via Getty ImFresh faces
Ben has already made several appearances on SNL as part of the comedy group Please Don't Destroy, which was founded in 2017 by the redhead and his friends John Higgins and Martin Herlihy. They were writers on the show, and also featured in viral sketches with Taylor Swift, Pete Davidson and Dakota Johnson.
© Getty ImagesViral stars
Veronika is a comedian known for her hilarious and viral TikTok videos. She has also starred in the Netflix comedy Tires and the FX show What We Do In the Shadows. Tommy is a seasoned performer who has done stand-up on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, after being named on the Just for Laughs New Face of Comedy list in 2023.
© SXSW Conference & Festivals viaComedy kings
Like Veronika, Jeremy is known for his hilarious and viral videos and is a regular performer with the Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles, which is responsible for several SNL hires in the past. Kam is a successful comedian who regularly appears on the variety podcast show Kill Tony, and will appear in the upcoming Netflix film 72 Hours.
Returning cast members include Kenan Thompson, Colin Jost, Michael Che, Mikey Day, Chloe Fineman, Andrew Dismukes, Ego Nwodim, Bowen Yang, Sarah Sherman, James Austin Johnson and Marcello Hernandez.
© Variety via Getty ImagesShaking things up
Lorne revealed in an interview with Puck that he had major changes planned for SNL following its 50th anniversary celebration, sharing that he didn't want to announce anything until after the SNL 50 special. "I wanted people coming back and being part of [the 50th season]," he said. "So, when Kate [McKinnon] hosted, Kristen [Wiig] and Maya [Rudolph] came back for it. And that meant there couldn't be those kinds of disruptions or anything that was going to take the focus off [the 50th season]."
© Will Heath/NBC via Getty ImagesSaying goodbye
Kenan Thompson, who has been part of the show for 22 seasons and is the longest-tenured cast member, also hinted at an SNL shake-up in an interview with Page Six in May. He shared that the 50th season was "bittersweet…especially this year where it feels like there's maybe, possibly, a lot of change next year."
"You want everyone to stay forever, knowing that people may be making decisions this summer…it's always like you want your kids to stay young," he added.
"You just never know what the future holds," Kenan shared. "I don't want to be in the way of someone else, or I don't want to be the stale old man riding the same thing. That doesn't really happen that much at SNL, but there's no guarantees, I guess."
