Saturday Night Live has had somewhat of a mass exodus following the end of its 47th season, but the show has now added a slew of new faces to its upcoming Season 48 cast in the form of featured players Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow, and Devon Walker.
Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Kyle Mooney, Pete Davidson, Alex Moffat, Melissa Villaseñor, and featured player Aristotle Athari all left SNL this year, marking the biggest cast turnover since Kristen Wiig, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis, Bill Hader, and Fred Armisen moved on from the show in 2012 and ’13.
All four of Saturday Night Live‘s new additions have roots in standup. Hernandez hails from Miami and serves as creative director for the “citizen’s journalism” comedy Instagram account Only in Dade, while Cleveland’s Kearney appears in Prime Video’s A League of Their Own reboot series. Longfellow, from Phoenix, has performed on the likes of Conan and at the Netflix Is a Joke Festival, and Austin’s Walker has written for Everything’s Trash and Big Mouth.
Season 48 of Saturday Night Live premieres October 1st, and while its latest cast shakeup signals the end of an era for some, SNL has proven that it can still be a career launcher for its newcomers. The comedy trio Please Don’t Destroy, who joined the show last season, are set to make a movie with Judd Apatow, and Bowen Yang — who joined SNL in 2018 — is set to star alongside Conan O’Brien and Meg Stalter.