several more cast members have been let go
Pete Davidson, Chris Redd, Melissa Villaseñor (a loss) and Alex Moffat who's also been super reliable. there'll be four new faces this season.
NYT chat with Lorne:
There’s turnover at “S.N.L.” every year, but losing eight cast members before a new season — that’s a lot, right?
Yes, but we were also at 23 or 24. We got to a point where we had a lot of people, and people weren’t getting enough playing time. The way the series has survived is by that level of renewal ... There’s a time to say goodbye and there’s a natural time for it, but the natural time just got interfered with by the pandemic.
So under normal circumstances, those departures would have happened more gradually?
We try to do the best with the cast that was there, and at the same time, my first responsibility is to keep the show fresh. Things grow stale. I don’t think we’d gotten stale, because the people we had were so gifted and at their peak.
If this is an opportunity for reinventing the show, what do you want its spirit to be?
What I want it to be is, there’s a reason to watch it live, because you don’t know what we’re going to do. Something big happened in the news, and you want to see how we’re going to deal with it and you know the people you’re hoping to see deal with it.
Do you pay attention to criticism from people who say they don’t feel represented by the show’s politics anymore? Is that something you try to take into account?
I won’t get into the party system, but there are lots of people that I get to meet and get to like. And when someone calls me after a show and says, “So-and-so was really hurt by what you did,” I go, Have they seen the show? That’s what we do, and that’s why I can’t be everyone’s friend ... the first priority can’t be not offending people you like or who are powerful. It’s the reverse. And if someone does something stupid, it would be glaring to not deal with it.
How did you approach casting the featured performers who are joining this season?
I think all four are fresh. They bring things we don’t have and they’re complementary to the people we already have. In people like Kate and Aidy, we had superstars, and it’s only because you got to know them over the years, and then they grew in stature. The new people could last for years.
You’ve also had new hires who stepped up pretty quickly, like James Austin Johnson, who was playing both Biden and Trump in his first season.
What I love about James’s Trump is, it’s the diminished Trump. It’s the guy at the back of the hardware store with a lot of opinions. He’s not this giant existential threat.
“Weekend Update,” with Colin Jost and Michael Che, will also remain intact?
Yes, particularly, coming into a midterm election, I just need that part to be as solid as it is.
“Saturday Night Live” is nearing its 50th anniversary ... when you hit a milestone like that, do you think of it as an opportunity to tip your hat and say goodbye?
I have no plans to retire. I’m not a big person for celebrating. Even the 40th [anniversary show], in the end, the only way I got through it was because I knew I was doing a show, and at a certain point, the credits would roll and we’d be off the air. The 50th will be a big event. We’ll bring everyone back from all 50 years and hosts and all of that. It will be a very emotional and very strong thing. There won’t be as many plus-ones, I can tell you that much.