The 'Saturday Night Live' cast is here! Who's new, who's leaving and who's returning
"Saturday Night Live" is back for another season of belly laughs and a milestone anniversary.
The sketch comedy show returns for its 50th season on Sept. 28 at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT and 10:30 CT on NBC, with episodes simulcast live on Peacock Premium and streaming the following day on Peacock.
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Here's everything you need to know about the Season 50 "SNL" cast.
Who are the new ‘Saturday Night Live’ cast members?
The Season 50 cast includes three featured players: Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim and Jane Wickline.
Ashley Padilla
As a member of Groundlings, an improvisation and sketch comedy group, Padilla knows a thing or two about making people laugh. Per her Groundlings bio, she grew up in the Bay Area and later moved to Los Angeles to start her career in comedy.
Emil Wakim
Per NBC, Wakim is a Lebanese-American stand-up comic, writer and actor. He's currently based in Brooklyn, New York but was born in Chicago and raised in the Midwest. In 2022, he performed a six-minute set on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon."
Jane Wickline
Wickline, a comedian who originally hails from Los Angeles, stars in the TikTok live comedy show "Stapleview." In 2024, Wickline appeared in the movie "My First Film."
Who are the returning 'Saturday Night Live' cast members?
All but three cast members from Season 49 are coming back to the show this year. The following three returning members have also attained repertory player status, meaning they're now part of the established cast: Marcello Hernández, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker.
Here's the full list of returning cast members:
Michael Che
Mikey Day
Andrew Dismukes
Chloe Fineman
Heidi Gardner
Marcello Hernández
James Austin Johnson
Colin Jost
Michael Longfellow
Ego Nwodim
Sarah Sherman
Kenan Thompson
Devon Walker
Bowen Yang
Who is leaving 'Saturday Night Live'?
Many cast members are returning for Season 50, but three familiar faces won't be participating in all the fun shenanigans.
Chloe Troast
Troast joined the cast as a featured player in Season 49. In a Sept. 9 Instagram post, Troast announced she was not asked to return.
"Unfortunately I was not asked back to SNL this season. I wish I was going back to be with all the amazing friends I made there, it truly felt like home. But it wasn’t in the cards," she wrote.
Molly Kearney
Molly Kearney, the first nonbinary cast member in "SNL" history, announced their departure from the show in August 2024.
“Yall that’s a wrap on my time on SNL! Reflecting on the amazing 2 seasons I got on this show, it was such a dream come true. So incredibly grateful for this period in my life,” Kearney wrote on Instagram. “So much love to all my big hearted buddies behind the scenes who make the magic happen every week. So many bald caps, so little time. It was a true honor to work with such a talented group of writers and DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE CAST.”
Punkie Johnson
In August 2024, Punkie Johnson confirmed her departure from the show after four seasons.
“It’s no bad blood, it’s no bridges burned, it’s no hard feelings,” Johnson said. “Bro, I love my people! I didn’t think none of this was going to be a big deal.”
Calling her experience on the show "a dream I didn’t even know that I could achieve," Johnson went on to say she still plans to keep in touch with her castmates.
"That’s still my people. I love them. I’m gonna be at the after parties acting a plumb fool!” she said.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com