Ahead of its 50th season premiere later this month, Saturday Night Live announces the addition of three new featured players: Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim, and Jane Wickline — while saying goodbye to its third current cast member.
On the heels of both Punkie Johnson and Molly Kearney announcing their departures from Saturday Night Live, the late-night staple appears to be finalizing its lineup ahead of its September 28 premiere.
This includes the addition of three new featured players to its cast, the promotions of three existing cast members to the main cast, and the departure of one of last year’s new faces.
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All three remaining cast members of last season’s sophomore class — Marcello Hernández, Michael Longfellow, and Devon Walker — are being promoted to the main cast, as has become tradition.
They are expected to join returning cast members Kenan Thompson, Colin Jost, Michael Che, Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim, Bowen Yang, Chloe FIneman, Andrew Dismukes, James Austin Johnson, and Sarah Sherman. Former cast member Maya Rudolph will also recur as Vice President Kamala Harris through the election.
Meanwhile, taking to her Instagram on Monday night, Chloe Troast confirmed a report by Deadline that she would not be back for the venerable late-night staple’s highly-anticipated 50th season.
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“hey all i was going to wait to post but Deadline beat me to it,” Troast wrote. “Unfortunately i was not asked back to SNL this season.”
“I wish i was going back to be with all the amazing friends i made there, it truly felt like home. But it wasn’t in the cards,” she continued. “i wanna thank everyone who supported me. Especially everyone who came to see my tour this summer, wore costumes from characters and had such wonderful things to say. You mean everything to me.”
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“I hope i was able to spread joy and laughter, all love. Onwards and upwards,” she concluded her message.
Troast was the only new addition to the cast this past season, and quickly made a mark for herself on the show with her remarkable singing voice and unique comic approach. Her breakout role came with the “Little Orphan Cassidy” segment opposite Timothée Chalamet.
Reciting this brilliant sketch from memory in honor of Chloe Troast 🫡
Like fellow one-season SNL star Jenny Slate, history will look kindly upon her! pic.twitter.com/D2M8oxGBen— Cameron Scheetz (@cameronscheetz) September 10, 2024
@cameronscheetz
New Featured Players
Balancing out the departures of Troast, Johnson, and Kearney, SNL has tapped three newcomers as featured players for its 50th season: Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim, and Jane Wickline.
Padilla has been a part of Los Angeles’ The Groundlings comedy troupe’s Main Company since 2021. She has also enjoyed recent guest-starring appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm and Night Court.
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Wakim made his late-night debut performing standup on The Tonight Show in 2022. Selected as a New Face of Comedy at the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival that year, he has opened for Nikki Glaser, Roy Wood Jr., and Hasan Minhaj.
Jane Wickline is a cast member on the popular TikTok live show Stapleview, picking up more than 54M likes. She has also appeared in the 2024 movie My First Film, and performs sketch comedy on tour.
Saturday Night Live Season 50 premieres on September 28.
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