How the cast of 'Saturday Night' compares to the real-life people they're playing (2024)

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Gabriel LaBelle stars as "SNL" creator and producer Lorne Michaels.

A year prior to "SNL," Michaels won a Primetime Emmy for his writing on the Lily Tomlin TV special "Lily."

LaBelle, who has appeared in a few movies and TV shows, became a breakout star after playing Sammy Fabelman, the main character in Steven Spielberg's 2022 semi-autobiographical film "The Fabelmans."

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Comedian and "Bottoms" star Rachel Sennott plays "SNL" writer Rosie Shuster.

Shuster, who was married to Lorne Michaels from 1971 to 1980, was part of the original writing staff at "SNL."

The role is fitting for Sennott, a comedian and actor who made waves with the raunchy high school comedy "Bottoms," which she cowrote and starred in.

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Cory Michael Smith plays "SNL" cast member Chevy Chase.

Chase was the first "Weekend Update" anchor and earned two Emmys during his time on the show. He left "Saturday Night Live" during season two to pursue film roles.

Smith is perhaps most recognized for playing the Riddler on Fox's Batman origin series "Gotham." More recently, he had a scene-stealing role in the drama "May December."

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Actor and singer Ella Hunt plays Gilda Radner, the first actor cast on "SNL."

For three seasons, Radner and the original cast members of "SNL" were known as the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players." In 1978, Radner won an Emmy for her work on the show.

Hunt previously starred as Sue Gilbert on the Apple TV+ series "Dickinson" and appeared in the Kevin Costner film "Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1."

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"Teen Wolf" alum Dylan O'Brien stars as Dan Aykroyd.

Aykroyd, known for his part in the "Ghostbusters" franchise, starred on "SNL" from 1975 to 1979. In 1977, he won an Emmy for his writing on "SNL."

O'Brien rose to fame playing Stiles Stilinski on MTV's popular scripted series "Teen Wolf." He also portrayed Thomas in the "Maze Runner" film franchise, based on James Dashner's dystopian book series. In 2021, O'Brien starred in Taylor Swift's short film "All Too Well."

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"Mary & George" actor Emily Fairn plays "SNL" cast member Laraine Newman.

Newman starred on "SNL" for five seasons from 1975 to 1980.

Fairn is a relatively new actor in Hollywood who most recently appeared on the Starz miniseries "Mary & George" and the British drama series "The Responder."

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Matt Wood plays John Belushi.

Belushi was best known for being part of the duo The Blues Brothers with "SNL" costar Dan Aykroyd.

Wood previously appeared on shows like "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "Instinct."

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"New Girl" star Lamorne Morris portrays Garrett Morris, the first Black cast member on "SNL."

Garrett Morris was a cast member on "SNL" for five years.

Lamorne Morris is recognized for starring as Winston Bishop on the sitcom "New Girl." He also played Witt Farr on season five of "Fargo."

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Kim Matula stars as "SNL" cast member Jane Curtin.

Curtin, who starred on "SNL" from 1975 to 1980, was the first female anchor on "Weekend Update."

Matula has appeared in various shows and films, including "The Bold and the Beautiful," "The Sex Lives of College Girls," and "NCIS."

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"Stranger Things" star Finn Wolfhard plays an NBC page.

In the first trailer for "Saturday Night," Wolfhard's character is seen standing outside Rockefeller Center, scrambling to get passersby to attend the first live taping of "SNL."

Wolfhard is best known for playing Mike Wheeler on Netflix's hit sci-fi series "Stranger Things," which is currently in production for its fifth and final season.

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"Succession" star Nicholas Braun plays two different roles: Andy Kaufman and Jim Henson.

Kaufman was a guest comedian on "SNL." Henson, a puppeteer and creator of the Muppets, appeared on the first season of "SNL."

Braun is known for his Emmy-winning portrayal of Greg Hirsch on the HBO drama series "Succession."

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Cooper Hoffman stars as "SNL" producer Dick Ebersol.

Ebersol is a former NBC executive who was hired as the director of weekend late-night programming. He helped develop "SNL" with Michaels.

Hoffman, the son of late actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, made his acting debut in the 2021 movie "Licorice Pizza."

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"No Hard Feelings" star Andrew Barth Feldman plays Neil Levy, a writer and talent coordinator at "SNL."

Feldman, who starred in the Broadway show "Dear Evan Hansen," paused his education at Harvard University so he could star alongside Jennifer Lawrence in the R-rated comedy "No Hard Feelings."

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Model Kaia Gerber plays actor Jacqueline Carlin.

Carlin, who was married to Chevy Chase from 1976 to 1980, appeared a few times on the first two seasons of "SNL."

Gerber is the daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford and businessman Rande Gerber. In recent years, she's appeared in "American Horror Story," "Babylon," and "Bottoms."

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Willem Dafoe stars as NBC executive David Tebet.

At the time of the sketch comedy show's premiere, Tebet was the vice president of talent at NBC.

Dafoe is a four-time Oscar nominee, known for roles in the "Spider-Man" films, "The Florida Project," and "Poor Things."

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Oscar winner J.K. Simmons plays Milton Berle.

Berle, the host of the variety show "Texaco Star Theater," was famously difficult when he hosted "SNL" in 1979.

Simmons is known for roles in films like "Whiplash" and "Juno." He also portrays J. Jonah Jameson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and does voice work for the animated Prime Video series "Invincible."

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Matthew Rhys plays George Carlin, the first-ever host of "SNL."

In the series premiere of "SNL," Carlin performed a monologue and did stand-up routines.

Rhys is a five-time Emmy nominee and one-time winner, known for starring in "The Americans."

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Grammy winner Jon Batiste plays Billy Preston, a musical guest on the first episode of "SNL."

Preston was one of two musical guests on the series premiere of "SNL."

Batiste, a five-time Grammy winner, most recently played Grady in the 2023 film adaptation of "The Color Purple."

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Naomi McPherson of the band MUNA plays "SNL" musical guest Janis Ian.

Ian, not to be confused with the "Mean Girls" character of the same name, also performed on the first episode of "SNL."

McPherson, whose pronouns are they/them, is a music producer and guitarist in the band MUNA. "Saturday Night" marks their film debut.