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Saturday Night Live Season 50 Cast: The Complete List

SNL premieres on September 28—here are the new cast members and returning players who'll be onstage at 11:30/10:30c on NBC and Peacock. 

By Samantha Vincenty

After mere weeks of planning and little more than days of rehearsal, the Season 50 cast of Saturday Night Live will soon stage a show, performing together on your TV screen for the very first time. 

How to Watch

Watch Saturday Night Live Saturdays at 11:30/10:30c on NBC and Peacock, streaming next day on Peacock.

Starting strong with SNL'season premiere on September 28 hosted by Jean Smart with Musical Guest Jelly Roll, the show welcomes back a strong lineup of return Hosts for 2024-2025's milestone 50th year (and an array of guest stars, like Maya Rudolph). But even if you're a member of the SNL Five-Timers Club like November 2 Host John Mulaney, this will be their first performance with this cast, and that's exciting.

RELATED: Watch Michael Keaton's SNL Monologue and Sketches from October 19

In addition to much of the Season 49 cast returning, the premiere will also introduce viewers to three new cast members: Featured Players Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim, and Jane Wickline. Season 50 will also include new work from comedy trio Please Don't Destroy's Ben Marshall, Martin Herlihy, and John Higgins (who contended with some office pigeons upon their return to 30 Rock this year). 

So who's returning from last year? Check out SNL's Season 50 cast below.

RELATED: Why the First Saturday Night Live Cast Were Called The Not Ready for Prime Time Players

Jake Gyllenhaal and the cast of Saturday Night Live during a sketch on SNL Episode 1864

Which SNL Season 49 cast members are coming back for SNL 50? 

Season 49 cast members James Austin Johnson, Chloe Fineman, Sarah Sherman, Andrew Dismukes, Ego Nwodim, Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner, Bowen Yang, and longest-running-cast-member Kenan Thompson are set to return. 

Marcello Hernández, Devon Walker, and Michael Longfellow, who first joined the cast as Featured Players in Season 48, become Repertory Players in Season 50.

RELATED: Watch Ariana Grande's Monologue and Sketches from October 12, 2024

Who is in the SNL Season 50 cast? 

SNL Season 50 Repertory Players

Michael Che

Michael Che on Saturday Night Live

Michael Che has co-anchored SNL’s "Weekend Update" alongside Colin Jost since 2014. The stand-up comic and writer was also one of the show's head writers from 2017-2023 alongside Colin Jost.

An eight-time Emmy nominee for his work on SNL, Che was a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He's a New York City native, raised in Manhattan.

When it comes to the cultural meaning of SNL 50, Che told The Hollywood Reporter, "I try not to think about it in the macro — in season 51, we can look back at 50 and say what was special about it, but it’s impossible to determine what is going to be special. You can’t plan for a perfect moment."

RELATED: See Photos of Young John Belushi During His Saturday Night Live Years

Mikey Day

Mikey Day on Saturday Night Live

Mikey Day joined SNL as a writer during Season 39 before becoming a Featured Player in 2016. If you're a fan of the wildly popular "Haunted Elevator" sketch, otherwise known as the birth of Tom Hanks' David S. Pumpkins, you can thank Day (he co-wrote it with fellow skeleton Bobby Moynihan). He's from Orange County, California.

RELATED: Seth Meyers Names the "Perfect Sketch" Mikey Day Co-Wrote for Nate Bargatze's SNL

Among Day's memorable Season 49 moments (and a victory for the show's hair department, who nabbed an Emmy for the episode): His team-up with Host Ryan Gosling for the viral "Beavis and Butt-Head" sketch.

Beavis and Butt-Head

Andrew Dismukes

Andrew Dismukes on Saturday Night Live

Stand-up comic and writer Dismukes joined as a Featured Player in 2020, after starting as a writer in 2017. Dismukes hails from Port Neches, Texas.

Beep Beep

Chloe Fineman

Chloe Fineman in an SNL digital sketch

Chloe Fineman is a TV and movie actress who is also known as a master celebrity impressionist. Both on the show and on her Instagram, Fineman has showcased uncanny celebrity impersonations that include Britney Spears, Nicole Kidman, Timothée Chalamet, Anna Delvey, and more. 

From Berkeley, California, Fineman joined SNL in Season 45 in 2019.

Chloe Fineman Admits to Secretly Touching Jared Leto's Shoulder, Shows Off Her Impressions

Heidi Gardner

Heidi Gardner on WWHL

Joining SNL in 2017 with seven seasons under her belt, Heidi Gardner is the longest-running female member of the current cast.

The actress and comedian is known for original characters like Carla, the Famous '80s Cocaine Wife, Angel, Every Boxer’s Girlfriend, and more she's showcased on "Weekend Update." A massive Chiefs fan, Gardner is from Kansas City, Missouri.

Bank Robbery

Marcello Hernández

Marcello Hernández on Saturday night live

Joining the cast as a Featured Player in Season 48, Hernández soon distinguished himself as a performer in sketches like "Spanish Class" during Host Ana de Armas' episode, and "Protective Mom" co-starring Emmy-nominated Host Pedro Pascal.

The stand-up comedian has also won praise for his writing on the show, particularly for co-writing Spanish-language sketches like "The Age of Discovery" with Season 49 Host Bad Bunny and the recurring "Protective Mom" starring Pascal — which he's revealed was partly inspired by his own mother. Hernández is from Miami, Florida.

The Age of Discovery

James Austin Johnson

James Austin Johnson on the red carpet for the White House Correspondents dinner

Like Chloe Fineman, James Austin Johnson had gained online fame for his incredible impressions prior to being cast on SNL — particularly, the uncannily-accurate take on Donald Trump that he brought to the show. 

But the Nashville, Tennessee native's talent in sketches extends past his range of impersonations, which includes President Joe Biden (also portrayed by Mikey Day), Mitch McConnell, and late basketball broadcaster Bill Walton. Johnson has been part of the SNL cast since Season 47.

Summer of Trump Cold Open

Colin Jost

Colin Jost wears a gray suit with his hand touching his chin at his desk during the Weekend Update segment.

Staten Island's own Colin Jost started out as a writer for SNL in 2005, joining the cast in 2014 to co-host "Weekend Update." He is the segment's longest-running anchor to date, breaking Seth Meyers' previous record.

While Jost is no longer a head writer, he takes an active role in writing for the show — prime example: Bowen Yang's cold open as former Congressman George Santos singing "Scandal in the Wind" from Season 49.

Michael Longfellow

Michael Longfellow stands in front of the Apollo Theatre

Longfellow is a stand-up comic and writer who joined the cast in Season 48, and after his two-season tenure as a Featured Player he's become a Repertory Player. He was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona.

Weekend Update: Michael Longfellow on Being a Child of Divorce During the Holidays

Ego Nwodim

Ego Nwodim at an SNL dinner party in front of a green background

Actress and comedian Ego Nwodim joined the SNL cast in 2018. A seasoned improviser, Nwodim has also been a recurring guest on long-running podcast Comedy Bang! Bang! since 2017. SNL work that Nwodim's best known for includes her Dionne Warwick impression and the character Lisa from Temecula, first introduced in Season 48.

In July 2024, Nwodim co-starred with Adam Pally and NBA player Steph Curry in the mock-documentary Peacock sitcom Mr. Throwback. She is from Baltimore, Maryland. 

Sarah Sherman

Sarah Sherman on Saturday Night Live

Sarah Sherman joined the cast in Season 47 and was promoted to Repertory Player status in Season 49. 

Performing for live audiences as "Sarah Squirm," the actress and stand-up comic is known for her love of body horror that incorporates heavy makeup, effects, and even prostheses, both onstage and in SNL pretaped sketches like Season 49's "Battle of the Sexes" and "The Anomalous Man."

Sherman is from Long Island, New York.