In the wake of last week’s “Saturday Night Live” cast exits, NBC announced on Tuesday that the sketch show will add five new featured players for Season 51, including Please Don’t Destroy member Ben Marshall.
The other new featured players added to the “SNL” cast are Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska. Meanwhile, Please Don’t Destroy’s John Higgins will exit “SNL” while Martin Herlihy remains on as a writer.
Marshall was hired as a writer on “SNL” in 2021 and appears as part of the Please Don’t Destroy comedy trio’s pre-taped videos alongside Higgins and Herlihy.
Marshall is the only new featured player with a history on “SNL,” with Brennan, Culhane, Patterson and Slowikowska all joining for their first season for the upcoming 51st installment.
Brennan, who is from Saint Paul, Minnesota, was selected as a Just for Laughs New Face of Comedy in 2023 and has appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
Likewise, Culhane is best known for his viral TikTok videos, and also appears as a regular on Dropout TV and performs with the Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles.
Patterson is a regular on live comedy podcast “Kill Tony” and can be seen on Netflix’s “72 Hours,” while Slowikowska is known for her comedy content on Instagram and TikTok and has appeared in Netflix’s “Tires” and FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows.”
The cast additions come amid a shakeup at “SNL” after regulars Heidi Gardner, Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow and Emil Wakim exited last week. Gardner had been at “SNL” the longest of the departing cast members, with the comedian appearing in eight seasons of the NBC sketch show after first joining the show in 2017.
“SNL” Season 51 premieres Oct. 4 at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT live on NBC and Peacock. “SNL” is produced in association with Broadway Video, with creator Lorne Michaels serving as an EP.
Emil Wakim Exits 'SNL' After One Season