How the cast of ‘Saturday Night’ compares to the real-life people they’re playing

A year prior to “SNL,” Michaels won a Primetime Emmy for his writing on the Lily Tomlin TV special “Lily.”

LaBelle, who has appeared in a few movies and TV shows, became a breakout star after playing Sammy Fabelman, the main character in Steven Spielberg’s 2022 semi-autobiographical film “The Fabelmans.”

Shuster, who was married to Lorne Michaels from 1971 to 1980, was part of the original writing staff at “SNL.”

The role is fitting for Sennott, a comedian and actor who made waves with the raunchy high school comedy “Bottoms,” which she cowrote and starred in.

Chase was the first “Weekend Update” anchor and earned two Emmys during his time on the show. He left “Saturday Night Live” during season two to pursue film roles.

Smith is perhaps most recognized for playing the Riddler on Fox’s Batman origin series “Gotham.” More recently, he had a scene-stealing role in the drama “May December.”

For three seasons, Radner and the original cast members of “SNL” were known as the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players.” In 1978, Radner won an Emmy for her work on the show.

Hunt previously starred as Sue Gilbert on the Apple TV+ series “Dickinson” and appeared in the Kevin Costner film “Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1.”

Aykroyd, known for his part in the “Ghostbusters” franchise, starred on “SNL” from 1975 to 1979. In 1977, he won an Emmy for his writing on “SNL.”

O’Brien rose to fame playing Stiles Stilinski on MTV’s popular scripted series “Teen Wolf.” He also portrayed Thomas in the “Maze Runner” film franchise, based on James Dashner’s dystopian book series. In 2021, O’Brien starred in Taylor Swift’s short film “All Too Well.”

Newman starred on “SNL” for five seasons from 1975 to 1980.

Fairn is a relatively new actor in Hollywood who most recently appeared on the Starz miniseries “Mary & George” and the British drama series “The Responder.”

Belushi was best known for being part of the duo The Blues Brothers with “SNL” costar Dan Aykroyd.

Wood previously appeared on shows like “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “Instinct.”

Garrett Morris was a cast member on “SNL” for five years.

Lamorne Morris is recognized for starring as Winston Bishop on the sitcom “New Girl.” He also played Witt Farr on season five of “Fargo.”

Curtin, who starred on “SNL” from 1975 to 1980, was the first female anchor on “Weekend Update.”

Matula has appeared in various shows and films, including “The Bold and the Beautiful,” “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” and “NCIS.”

In the first trailer for “Saturday Night,” Wolfhard’s character is seen standing outside Rockefeller Center, scrambling to get passersby to attend the first live taping of “SNL.”

Wolfhard is best known for playing Mike Wheeler on Netflix’s hit sci-fi series “Stranger Things,” which is currently in production for its fifth and final season.

Kaufman was a guest comedian on “SNL.” Henson, a puppeteer and creator of the Muppets, appeared on the first season of “SNL.”

Braun is known for his Emmy-winning portrayal of Greg Hirsch on the HBO drama series “Succession.”

Ebersol is a former NBC executive who was hired as the director of weekend late-night programming. He helped develop “SNL” with Michaels.

Hoffman, the son of late actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, made his acting debut in the 2021 movie “Licorice Pizza.”

Dewey previously starred on TV series like “The Mindy Project,” “Casual,” and “Now We’re Talking.”

Feldman, who starred in the Broadway show “Dear Evan Hansen,” paused his education at Harvard University so he could star alongside Jennifer Lawrence in the R-rated comedy “No Hard Feelings.”

Carlin, who was married to Chevy Chase from 1976 to 1980, appeared a few times on the first two seasons of “SNL.”

Gerber is the daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford and businessman Rande Gerber. In recent years, she’s appeared in “American Horror Story,” “Babylon,” and “Bottoms.”

At the time of the sketch comedy show’s premiere, Tebet was the vice president of talent at NBC.

Dafoe is a four-time Oscar nominee, known for roles in the “Spider-Man” films, “The Florida Project,” and “Poor Things.”

Berle, the host of the variety show “Texaco Star Theater,” was famously difficult when he hosted “SNL” in 1979.

Simmons is known for roles in films like “Whiplash” and “Juno.” He also portrays J. Jonah Jameson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and does voice work for the animated Prime Video series “Invincible.”

In the series premiere of “SNL,” Carlin performed a monologue and did stand-up routines.

Rhys is a five-time Emmy nominee and one-time winner, known for starring in “The Americans.”

Preston was one of two musical guests on the series premiere of “SNL.”

Batiste, a five-time Grammy winner, most recently played Grady in the 2023 film adaptation of “The Color Purple.”

Ian, not to be confused with the “Mean Girls” character of the same name, also performed on the first episode of “SNL.”

McPherson, whose pronouns are they/them, is a music producer and guitarist in the band MUNA. “Saturday Night” marks their film debut.