Five new players, including Please Don’t Destroy comedian Ben Marshall, will join the upcoming 51st season of “Saturday Night Live” amid the latest cast exodus.
NBC on Tuesday announced that Marshall, who came on board the sketch staple as a staff writer in 2021 and often appears in segments alongside comedy troupe members John Higgins and Martin Herlihy, has been promoted to a featured player.
He’ll be joined by stand-up comedians Tommy Brennan and Kam Patterson, as well as TikTokers Jeremy Culhane and Veronika Slowikowska, when the new season premieres on Oct. 4.
Brennan was named as a part of Just For Laughs’ “New Faces of Comedy Class of 2023” and has previously performed on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
Patterson regularly appears on the comedy podcast “Kill Tony,” and will make his feature film debut alongside Marshall in the Netflix bachelor-party comedy “72 Hours,” starring Kevin Hart.
In addition to racking up more than 338,000 followers on TikTok, Culhane is a Dropout TV mainstay and Upright Citizens Brigade performer. He also starred in the 2018 TV adaptation of “Heathers,” and appeared in several episodes of “American Vandal” and “The Sex Lives of College Girls.”
Slowikowska, who hails from Canada, is best recognized from her comedy work on social media, as well as her starring role in Amazon Prime Video and Hulu’s “Davey & Jonesie’s Locker.” Earlier this year, she appeared in the Netflix sitcom “Tires” and Peacock’s “Poker Face.”
Late last week, news broke that Heidi Gardner and Michael Longfellow would leave “SNL” after eight and three seasons, respectively. Their departures were reported on the heels of the exits of castmates Devon Walker and Emil Wakim, as well as that of Celeste Yim, who made history as the show’s first out trans and nonbinary staff writer.
“SNL” creator Lorne Michaels confirmed to Puck News last week that he “for sure” felt pressure to recast in the wake of the landmark 50th season.
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