Since the night the world was introduced to the brilliant “Farewell Mr. Bunting,” SNL has “moved on” from Taran Killam, Jay Pharoah, and Jon Rudnitsky. Instead of sticking with a trimmed cast, Lorne Michaels has hired three new cast members, one of whom was already working on the series as a writer. That would be Mikey Day, who you might recognize from Maya & Marty, Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ‘N Out, or that photo of him being carried around by John Cena. (He’s already more memorable than Rudnitsky.)
Day will be joined by Alex Moffat and Melissa Villaseñor.
Moffat, who was cast in a NBC sketch comedy pilot, made his feature film debut in 2015’s indie crime-drama Uncle John. He also studied at iO Theater, Second City, and the Annoyance, where according to the Chicago Tribune, he was in a “Sherlock Holmes murder comedy, with Moffat playing Watson in a performance that was the sharpest bit of an otherwise flawed show.” He is (presumably) not related to the other Moffat who’s interested in Sherlock.
Villaseñor, meanwhile, was a top-16 contestant during season six of America’s Got Talent; competed on Dana Carvey’s USA series First Impressions; and has voiced characters on Adventure Time and Family Guy. (It’s weird to live in a world where someone goes from Family Guy to SNL, rather than the other way around. I think I’m okay with this.) The self-described “stand-up comedian of 10 years, actor, musician, and graphic artist” is also a skilled impressionist.
I hope Villaseñor does her Joan Cusack every episode.
Here’s her America’s Got Talent audition.
They both wisely don’t use Twitter, or have made their account private.
Welcome to the cast @mikeyfuntime, Alex Moffat and Melissa Villaseñor!
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) September 12, 2016
(Via Splitsider)