The new additions come after some high-profile cast members announced departures following the show’s historic 50th season.
WASHINGTON — Saturday Night Live is shaking up its lineup ahead of Season 51, adding four new featured players and promoting a familiar face.
NBC announced Tuesday that Ben Marshall, a member of the comedy trio Please Don’t Destroy, has been elevated to the cast. Joining him are Veronika Slowikowska, Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane and Kam Patterson.
Marshall arrived at SNL in 2021 with Please Don’t Destroy partners John Higgins and Martin Herlihy, quickly building a following for their viral digital shorts, reminiscent of The Lonely Island. The trio also often wrote live sketches together for the show.
Shortly after the cast addition announcement, Higgins shared that he would no longer be working on SNL. “I can’t believe how lucky I was to be a part of this show. It was my dream and I got to live it,” he wrote in an Instagram post.
Herlihy will remain a writer on the show, however, Please Don’t Destroy sketches will no longer appear, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Slowikowska gained a following of over a million followers online with viral sketches and has acting credits on Shane Gillis’ Netflix comedy “Tires” and FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows.” Brennan, named a “New Face of Comedy” at Just for Laughs in 2023, has performed on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”
Culhane is known for his work on Dropout TV, formerly known as CollegeHumor, and with Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles. Patterson, a stand-up comic featured regularly on the live podcast “Kill Tony,” will soon appear alongside SNL’s Marcello Hernández in Kevin Hart’s Netflix film 72 Hours.
The cast changes come as the long-running sketch comedy show, which has aired since 1975, prepares for major transitions. Producer Lorne Michaels has teased big changes before Season 51, and the past few weeks have been filled with cast departure announcements.
Among those leaving SNL after its historic 50th season are Heidi Gardner after eight years, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker after three seasons each, and Emil Wakim after just one season.
Writers Celeste Yim and Rosebud Baker both also confirmed their departures from the show.
Season 51 of SNL kicks off on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
