Uncanny likenesses and unexpected roles: All the actors playing an original SNL cast member in Saturday Night
It's one of the longest-running shows in television history, but once upon a time, audiences had never seen anything like it.
Jason Reitman's latest film Saturday Night focuses on the 90 hectic minutes before the first-ever episode of Saturday Night Live, which at the time was just called Saturday Night.
The movies sees the original cast and creators scramble to get everything in order ahead of going live on TV.
"We began doing Zoom calls with anyone we could find that was in the building on October 11, 1975," shared the film's director Jason Reitman.
The movie sees stars such as Dylan O'Brien, Willem Dafoe and Rachel Sennott take on the roles of original SNL cast members and NBC executives.
Keep scrolling to see all the actors cast in the film, and learn about the real life counterparts they play.
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Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase
When it comes to casting, the team behind Saturday Night hit the nail on the head with this one.
Cory Michael Smith stars as Chase, and honestly, the resemblance is uncanny.
Smith told Entertainment Weekly Chase was one of the comedians he grew up watching, but there was one part of the performance he really had to work on to get right.
"The thing that was really important for me was making sure that his quips were dry. He's dry and nonchalant," Smith shared.
"So I was really trying to capture a certain Chevy cadence and snarkiness – without being too glib, because he is charming.
"So it was surfing that line of being sarcastic and dry without being too dark.
"I think a lot of what can read as confidence or cockiness comes in the way that he delivers lines, so it was sort of finding the most accurate tone."
Lorne Michaels
Today, he's an award-winning TV producer with a whopping 21 Emmy wins under his belt.
But back in 1975, Lorne Michaels was just a kid with a dream. A dream that would later make him very, very rich.
Michaels is the mind behind SNL, being the driving force that created the now-iconic TV show.
He began as producer of the show, going on to take on other roles such as writer and executive producer, even appearing on screen here and there.
Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels
In the film, he was portrayed by rising star Gabrielle LaBelle.
Despite Reitman not thinking it essential, LaBelle said he worked really hard to get Michaels' physicality correct.
"I felt it was important, because so many of the people who inspired me came from SNL," the 22-year-old told The AU Review.
"They made the movies that made me want to be an actor.
"I wanted to get Lorne right for them, because these people know him so well, and they spent so much time with him," he added.
"He taught them so much. I did a lot of research to give context to my job of being a young person wanting to make something."
Dan Akroyd
Dan Akroyd was one of the original SNL cast members, also signing on as a writer for the series.
He'd met Michaels when he was just a teenager working on the Canadian comedy scene, and when he was 23, Michaels asked him to join his new project.
"See, we all knew each other. Gilda [Radner], and Billy [Murray], and Brian [Murray], his brother, and I all worked together up in Canada," Aykroyd said in a 1978 interview
"Basically, I guess Lorne just had to look around for other talent, and finally grabbed the people he knew were ripe and ready to do it, you know?"
Dylan O'Brien as Dan Akroyd
In the film, Akroyd is portrayed by The Maze Runner star Dylan O'Brien.
Although he's been praised for his performance, he originally felt he wasn't the right fit for the role, telling Men's Health he went into filming thinking he was "so wrong" for the part.
"I don't know. I was self-conscious that I didn't look like him, that I didn't sound like him, that I thought people wouldn't think me — Dan Aykroyd," the Teen Wolf actor shared.
But he came around saying that he eventually decided he didn't care if fans responded to the role poorly.
"I'm boned, but whatever," he said.
"It's great to be here and get to do this, and what a blast of a thing to get to be a part of."
Rosie Shuster
Rosie Shuster was a childhood friend of Michaels, the pair working closely on several comedy sketches through high school and college.
In 1967, when she was 17 and he was 22, the duo got married.
They were together for 13 years – including the first five years of SNL – before divorcing in 1980.
Despite the breakdown of their relationship, Shuster and Michaels were able to maintain their working relationship.
Shuster was one of the founding writers on the show, working on the first seven seasons of SNL, before taking a break for seasons eight and nine, and later returning for seasons 10 to 13.
Rachel Sennot as Rosie Shuster
Bottoms actress Rachel Sennott portrays Shuster in Saturday Night.
Sennott was one of the very few cast members who met their real life counterpart before filming.
"[She] was amazing. I got to hear her voice and her laugh," Sennott told The Hollywood Reporter.
"I was like, 'So were you freaking out [on the night of the first episode]?' And she was like, 'Yeah, we knew it was a big deal, but also we didn't.'
"As a testament to [Saturday Night's] writing, I noticed that the script used words or phrases that she said in real life, so that was very cool."
Garrett Morris
Garrett Morris was one of the original cast members of SNL, appearing on the show from 1975 to 1980.
He first signed on as a writer, soon becoming an on screen player.
He's been open about battling racism during his time on the show, crediting Michaels for always 'having his back'.
"Look, when they told him [Michaels] to get rid of me, he didn't do that," Morris told The Hollywood Reporter in 2021.
"He allowed me to audition for something else. It wasn't just writers who wanted me gone; it was some NBC executives, too. Lorne didn't do that.
"So how can you do anything but thank him for that? Because without Saturday Night Live, I certainly would not have been nationally known."
Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris
Despite having the same last name, Lamorne Morris shares no relation to his real-life counterpart.
Lamorne was also lucky enough to get to spend time with Garrett ahead of production, saying the main thing he wanted to know was what his relationship was like with the rest of the cast and crew at the time.
"I knew the backdrop. The backdrop was Garrett was the only Black dude on the show," Lamorne told The Hollywood Reporter.
"And a lot of the writers were racist, and the jokes were a certain type of way he wasn't necessarily comfortable with. So he had beef with certain writers and things like that.
"I knew that setting was where he was living. But I wanted to know, with the rest of the castmates, who he vibed with, who he partied with."
Lamorne says having Garret break down those connections really helped him once he got on set.
"You start seeing the energy of everybody else and what everybody likes to do," he said.
"And then I'm going to each actor and I'm explaining to them what Garrett said about the person that they're playing, and we collabed that way."
