Among long-running television shows in any category, it would probably be fair to say that Saturday Night Live is right up there when it comes to cast turn over. But, as the series heads into the 2025 TV premiere schedule with lots of new Season 51 hosts and musical guests lined up, few fans thought that we’d lose five members of the cast and gain the same number of newbies just weeks before the upcoming set of episodes was due to begin. Now an insider has pointed out why SNL’s brand new stars are different from those of the past.
How Are SNL’s New Stars Different From Those In The Past?
It’s always a shock when your favorites depart a beloved television show, so the same is definitely true when we have to say goodbye to memorable recurring characters when funny folks on Saturday Night Live leave their time on the series behind. In late August, we got word (in quick succession) that cast members Devon Walker, Emil Wakim, and Michael Longfellow were heading elsewhere, along with “Weekend Update” writer Rosebud Baker. Before the month was out it was also confirmed that eight-season cast member Heidi Gardner was out, and then mid-September brought news that Ego Nwodim had also departed SNL after seven seasons for an “exciting” future.
We’ve known for a few weeks now that there will also be five new people in the cast when Season 51 starts, as Ben Marshall, Veronika Slowikowska, Kam Patterson, Tommy Brennan, and Jeremy Culhane have been added. Unlike cast additions of years past, however, an insider recently told Deadline that this new group stands out from those who came before because of one important reason. As they said:
I think what you’re seeing right now is SNL operating in a new era, where the talent has more of a voice than ever before. In previous years when you would hire a cast member, it would be a total discovery. This year is, I think, the first where all four of the comedians that they picked have fairly sizable, kind of niche, but dedicated audiences that they already have built on their own.
Marshall is already known to SNL fans, as he’s been with Please Don’t Destroy during their tenure making viral digital shorts for the comedy since 2021, and is now simply moving on to becoming a regular part of the cast. However, while Slowikowska, Patterson, Brennan and Culhane are hardly household names, they have all plied their trade in ways that were previously unavailable to performers like Maya Rudolph, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Eddie Murphy, and Tina Fey.
Each of the newcomers have developed their own dedicated followings on social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. This means that when we get our first taste of them in Studio 8H, it will hardly be the only way to get to know what they’re capable of as they make us laugh. Hopefully, everything goes well for all of them, and one day their careers will be launched into the stratosphere like so many other Saturday Night Live stalwarts who came before.
