The move comes following significant departures, including Pete Davidson and Kate McKinnon.
Saturday Night Live will feature four new faces when season 48 of the sketch show kicks off Oct. 1 on NBC. Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow, and Devon Walker are being added as featured players on the long-running sketch series.
The new additions come on the heels of significant departures last season, including those of Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon and Melissa Villaseñor, among others. Davidson left after seven seasons while McKinnon left after a decade. Villaseñor joined the show as featured player in 2016, and was promoted to the main cast two years later. Alex Moffat, Aristotle Athari, Aidy Bryant and Kyle Mooney also announced their departure from the show ahead of the upcoming season.
Hernandez's addition to the main cast comes following his selection as a Just for Laughs New Face of Comedy in 2022. The Miami native is a comedian, writer and actor of Cuban/Dominican descent.
Kearney, who uses they/them pronouns, was also selected by Comedy Central's Up Next showcase in 2019. They have also appeared in Prime Video's A League of Their Own, and in the Disney+ series The Mighty Ducks.
Longfellow was one of TBS's "Comics to Watch" at the 2017 New York Comedy Festival. He's featured in Netflix's Introducing ... showcase and NBC's Bring the Funny.
Walker, an Austin, Texas native, has written for Freeform's Everything's Trash and Netflix's Big Mouth. He was also selected for Comedy Central's Up Next showcase in 2017.
While the cast departures have come seemingly in droves, SNL mainstay Kenan Thompson assured ET earlier this year that he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.
"I know we're at least trying to get to the 50th [season], 'cause that's gonna be a special year, you know what I mean? And then after that, it's like, I don't know exactly how long I can do it," he said. "What keeps me coming back is them asking me to come back. If I felt like I was overstaying my welcome, or unwanted, then I would like to show myself the door, but yeah, it's also a one-of-a-kind place."
Davidson, who made a surprise appearance at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards where SNL won an Emmy for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series, showered Lorne Michaels with love following the announcement of his exit from SNL.
"I owe [executive producer] Lorne Michaels and everyone at SNL my life. I'm so grateful and I wouldn’t be here without them. I appreciate you guys always having my back and sticking up for me even when that wasn’t the popular opinion," Davidson wrote on Instagram at the time. "Thank you for always believing in me and sticking by my side even when it seemed comical. Thank you for teaching me life values, how to grow up and for giving me memories that will last a lifetime."
RELATED CONTENT:
