They said it’d never happen again. Not in a million years. It’s too risky, too out-there! But, for the first time since The Late Shift, someone has been cast to play Dick Ebersol in a movie. SNL 1975 will tell the story of the little late-night show that could and, in fact, still is. According to Deadline, the film will show the backstage chaos before the very first airing, counting down the minutes in real time to the infamous words “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!” In a bold creative choice, filmmakers Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan have decided to cast real people to play the historical figures at the heart of the story, rather than go the Flashroute and use AI deep fakes. The Fabelmans star Gabriel LaBelle is playing li’l baby Lorne Michaels, who is ushered into the NBCUniversal Universe by Ebersol (Cooper Hoffman). Here’s who’s who in SNL 1975 (as well as who played them in The Late Shift and the Doug Kenney biopic A Futile and Stupid Gesture,when applicable).
The C-Suite
LaBelle’s Michaels and Hoffman’s Ebersol are the main higher-ups to be announced. Ebersol was played by Kevin Scannell in The Late Shift and Armen Weitzman played Michaels in AFASG.
Finn Wolfhard is playing an as-yet-unnamed NBC page, according to Deadline. Is Wolfhard really a nobody page in the film or one of the many personalities who got their start in 30 Rock?
Speaking of Wolfhard, his Ghostbusters: Afterlife co-star and Hell of a Summer co-director Billy Bryk has been cast in an unknown role as well. Maybe they both got their SNL start as pages together.
Other execs who midwifed Saturday Night Live (according to the oral history Live From New York) include manager Bernie Brillstein, former NBC president Fred Silverman, and former NBC chairman and Mary Tyler Moore husband Grant Tinker.
The “Not Ready for Prime-time” Players
Matt Wood will be playing John Belushi, who was portrayed by John Gemberling in A Futile and Stupid Gesture and by Michael Chiklis in Wired. Dylan O’Brien, of Ponyboiand All Too Well fame, will play Dan Aykroyd, who was played by Jack Cook in AFASG. New Girl’s Lamorne Morris will play Garrett Morris, who was a playwright before SNL. More people should know that! Chevy Chase will be played by May December’s Cory Michael Smith and was embodied by his former Communityco-star Joel McHale in AFASG.
On-set photos from SNL 1975 show a flyer with … someone playing host George Carlin. Is it frequent Reitman collaborator Paul Rudd? Bradley Cooper in full Jackson Maine drag? Or perhaps (the heavily rumored choice) it’s Matthew Rhys.
Dickinson’s Ella Hunt will play Gilda Radner (Jackie Tohn in AFASG), and Jane Curtin will be played by LA to Vegas’s Kim Matula. Laraine Newman will not be played by any of her successful offspring; rather, Black Mirror’s Emily Fairn will be stepping up.
Billy Crystal will be played by Nicholas Podany. Even though he didn’t join the cast until the 1980s, Crystal had a sketch cut from the show’s very first episode.
Kaia Gerber has been cased as Jacqueline Carlin. Confusingly, Jacqueline Carlin wasn’t related to first host George but rather was Chase’s girlfriend at the time (they married in 1976). After Chase, Jacqueline married music exec–Doris Day’s son–object of Charles Manson’s ire Terry Melcher.
One casting remains, and that’s the resident Old of the OG SNL players, George Coe. Whither Coe?
The BTS (Behind the Scenes) Army
Bottomsstar Rachel Sennott has been cast as Rosie Shuster, who came onto the show as both a writer and Michaels’s wife. Shuster went on to date Aykroyd (early seasons of the show were basically one big cuddle puddle, according to frequent host Carrie Fisher). Tommy Dewey from Hulu’s Casualwill play head writer Michael O’Donoghue (played by the State’s Thomas Lennon in AFASG). No Hard Feelings ingenue Andrew Barth Feldman will play Neil Levy.
Star Wars Rebels’s Taylor Gray and Teenage Badass’s Mcabe Gregg are gonna play writing duo Al Franken and Tom Davis. Joining the writing staff alongside them is Joe Chrest who’s playing Weekend Update co-creator Herb Sargent and joining his Stranger Things co-star Wolfhard on set.
The infamous comedian Milton Berle (he was banned from the set in 1979) will be played by the regular famous actor J.K. Simmons.
Nicholas Braun was announced as playing Jim Henson, which is really a lot to take in. Some elements of this make sense: Henson was six-foot-three and lanky, and Braun has a bit of a Muppet-y voice. But something also feels really spiritually bizarre about it. Then after that announcement, Braun was papped on set dressed as Andy Kaufman, so do with that what you will.
(If you’re wondering why Braun as Jim Henson was announced to begin with, that first 1975 season of SNL featured a recurring Muppet segment called “The Land of Gorch” that everyone apparently hated. And thank God for that because Henson left after the first season and began making The Muppet Show in earnest.)
Important writers who could figure in SNL 1975 include Anne Beatts, writer and John’s wife Judith Belushi, Marilyn Suzanne Miller, and Alan Zweibel. And let’s not forget Albert Brooks was lurking around Studio 8H that first season.
Also worth considering is whether anyone will play music supervisor Howard Shore or OG band member Paul Shaffer. If Shaffer figures in SNL 1975, he will be the only figure in all three major films in the NBCEU (National Broadcasting Company Extended Universe).
This post has been updated.
By Bethy Squires , 2024-03-26 04:27:00
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