Last week, we reported on the cast members who are departing Saturday Night Live ahead of the show’s 51st season.
Today, we offer a more encouraging update, as the iconic sketch show has announced the addition of five new stars!
Yes, the new class of featured players has been revealed, and fans will be pleased to see one very familiar face among its ranks.
‘Please Don’t Destroy’ alum one of five new featured players
Ben Marshall has been appearing on SNL for several years as a member of the comedy troupe Please Don’t Destroy.
But now, the 30-year-old actor and comic will be appearing in sketches alongside the main cast.
It’s unclear why Marshall’s scene/writing partners weren’t promoted along with him (it’s possible that they’re both content with their current gigs), but interestingly, Marshall is the only member of PDD with no familial ties to the industry.
(John Higgins is the son of SNL producer and Jimmy Fallon sidekick Steve Higgins, while Martin Herlihy is the son of frequent Adam Sandler collaborator Tim Herlihy.)
Also joining the cast for season 51 are popular social media star Veronika Slowikowska (who has more than 1 million followers on Instagram), and comics Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Ben Marshall, Kam Patterson.
It seems that producer Lorne Michaels is hoping to take the show in a younger, hipper direction as it enters its sixth decade.
He may have hit the jackpot with a quintet of stars who have already built sterling reputations for themselves on social media.
“Dream come true … see you Saturdays,” Slowikowska wrote on Instagram today.
We can’t wait.