Live from New York… it’s the very first Saturday Night Live.
The Saturday Night Live biopic has found its cast members to play Garrett Morris, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase and John Belushi.
Jason Reitman (Juno, Up in the Air) is directing a feature “SNL 1975″, about the debut night for the iconic comedy series that chronicles the tense behind-the-scenes drama leading up to the first-ever SNL broadcast on Oct. 11, 1975 when a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. SNL 1975 is the true story of what happened that night behind the scenes in the moments leading up to the first broadcast of SNL. It depicts the chaos and magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, counting down the minutes in real time to the infamous words, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”.
So far, the project has cast young actors to portray some of the most memorable Not-Ready-for-Primetime Players, as well as the man behind SNL himself, Lorne Michaels.
The cast includes Gabriel LaBelle (The Fabelmans) as the legendary Lorne Michaels, creator of SNL, Rachel Sennott (The Idol) will play SNL writer — and Michaels’ real-life spouse — Rosie Shuster, Emily Fairn as Laraine Newman, Ella Hunt (Dickinson) as Gilda Radner, Kim Matula (The Bold and the Beautiful) as Jane Curtin and Cooper Hoffman (Licorice Pizza) will play NBC executive Dick Ebersol.
From left: Chevy Chase, John Belushi (top), Laraine Newman (front), Gilda Radner, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin & Dan Aykroyd Courtesy of NBC/Everett Collection
Dylan O’Brien who is best known for his roles in “Teen Wolf” and “The Maze Runner” will play Dan Aykroyd, the Conehead/Blues Brother and skilled impersonator who did impressions of Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon, Julia Child, and many more on the show. O’Brien’s recent work includes the film “Ponyboi”, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival this year.
Lamorne Morris who is known for his role as Winston on “New Girl” is set to portray Garrett Morris (No relation), SNL’s first Black cast member, best known for characters like Chico Escuela and the “News for the Hard of Hearing” translator as well as his musical performances. Lamorne Morris recently appeared on the fifth season of “Fargo”.
Cory Michael Smith is known for roles in award winning movie “May December”, he will portray Chevy Chase, the breakout star of SNL’s first season and original “Weekend Update” anchor.
Matt Wood who has appeared in ” Law and Order: SVU” will play the late John Belushi, the cast member known for bringing live-wire energy to characters like Jake Blues, Samurai Futaba, Pete Dionisopoulos, James T. Kirk, and Henry Kissinger.
Reitman is co-writing the screenplay with frequent collaborator Gil Kenan based on interviews with the cast and crew of SNL’s first year on the air.
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