Hold onto your sides and prepare yourself for stitches because the SNL 1975 cast is ready to welcome four new players to the stage. Lamorne Morris (New Girl, Woke, Bloodshot), Dylan O’Brien (Teen Wolf, The Maze Runner, Love and Monsters), Cory Micheal Smith (Transatlantic, Gotham, Call Jane), and Matt Wood (Broadway’s Spongebob Squarepants, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) will play Garrett Morris, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, and John Belushi, respectively. They join previously announced cast members Ella Hunt (Anna and the Apocalypse, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Kat and the Band) as Gilda Radner, Emily Fairn (Black Mirror, The Responder) as Laraine Newman, and Kim Matula (Fighting with My Family, Raptor Ranch, The Bold and the Beautiful) as Jane Curtin.
Jason Reitman will direct SNL 1975 and co-write the screenplay with Gil Keenan. SNL 1975 explores the evening of October 11, 1975, when “a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. SNL 1975 is the true story of what happened behind the scenes that night in the moments leading up to the first broadcast of NBC’s Saturday Night Live. It depicts the chaos and magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, counting down the minutes in real-time to the infamous words, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”
Reitman and Kenan’s script takes inspiration from interviews they recorded with living members of the SNL cast, writers, and crew. Anyone who knows anything about Saturday Night Live knows how chaotic and unpredictable the show can be, including breaks in character, last-minute script changes, inexperienced guests, and technical snafus.
Reitman, Kenan, Jason Blumenfeld, Erica Mills, and Peter Rice are producing.
Lamorne Morris plays North Dakota Deputy Witt Farr in the latest season of FX’s Fargo. He recently wrapped production on the hilarious-looking Not Another Church Movie, starring Vivica A. Fox, Tisha Campbell, and Jasmine Guy, with Jamie Foxx as God and Mickey Rourke as the Devil. I’m not kidding. Go and watch the trailer.
You likely know Dylan O’Brien from The Maze Runner or the Teen Wolf TV series. His latest film is Ponyboi, a drama about a young intersex sex worker who must run from the mob after a drug deal goes sideways, forcing him to confront his past.
Comic book fans know Cory Michael Smith as Edward Nygma/The Riddler from Gotham, but he also plays Georgie in the emotional roller coaster May December. His latest project is being the narrator for Incomplete, which tells the story of a man sharing a letter about longing for someone he has never met. It explores loneliness and poses a question: do we need another person in life to feel complete, or are we missing a connection with ourselves?
Finally, there’s Matt Wood, a Broadway import who appeared in the original Broadway cast of Spongebob Squarepants and as the chocolate-loving Augustus Gloop in the Broadway First National Tour of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
What do you think about today’s casting announcements for SNL 1975? Are you excited to see these actors portray the comedy legends of yesteryear? Let us know in the comments below.