With “SNL” Season 52 just ten days away, fans have been clamoring for cast news and today, we finally have it!
Leading up to today’s news we had only heard of two cast changes: Chloe Fineman on July 16 announced she’d be leaving after seven divisive but strong seasons and Martin Herlihy was leaving after five seasons of being a writer, one-third of the Please Don’t Destroy group and the rare live sketch appearance.
Today, we learned that Ashley Padilla & Jane Wickline have been promoted to repertory players. Both cast members joined just ahead of Season 50 and while it may not be a big surprise, it is a cause for celebration!
Padilla really broke out in Season 51 making history in the process; she was the first Featured Player in “SNL” history to lead their entire cast in sketch appearances for a season. If you caught any part of last season, it’s likely Padilla was on your screen. Whether she was opposite Andrew Dismukes playing “The couple who just broke up” or she was booming with the question “We talkin’ TV?”, Padilla was the Most Valuable Player.
While Wickline hasn’t had quite the skyrocketing success out of the gate, she is finding places outside of Weekend Update to shine. The criticism of Wickline had been that her offbeat musical numbers on Weekend Update were one note and that their deadpan delivery wouldn’t translate well in sketches. To me, she proved them all wrong during the Alexander Skarsgard episode on Jan. 31st of this year. The Winter Olympics and Play Date sketches showed that Wickline’s personality can be harnessed for genuinely funny scenarios and allow her to show her improving comedic timing.
But, that’s not all the news we got today folks!
We welcome two cast members today: New York native, Saidah Belo-Osagie and the well-known Grace Reiter.
I must admit, when new cast members are announced, it’s rare that I know any of their previous work. In fact, Beck Bennett may stand alone for me, his AT&T commercials were everywhere at the time. This fact holds true for our two newest cast members but I’d be remiss if I didn’t share that Reiter’s 5.2 million followers (combined) is an insane flex to be coming in with. Oh, and Reiter is the first cast member in “SNL” history to be born after 2000.
Both my lower back and knees started weeping upon finding that out.
Season 52 kicks off on Sept. 26 with Jalen Brunson hosting and musical guest, Katseye!