With Saturday Night Live’s Season 52 premiere just five weeks away, the show is entering the most consequential stretch of its annual casting process.
LateNighter understands that producers are planning to hold in-studio auditions for prospective cast members next week, following a summer spent scouting performers at comedy clubs and festivals.
Deadline reported Wednesday that the SNL team wrapped the last of five talent showcases Tuesday, after holding events in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. The outlet published the names of several performers its sources identified as standouts and reported that calls had begun going out to some of those advancing to the next stage of the process.
That next stage is the round of in-studio auditions LateNighter understands is set for next week.
That doesn’t necessarily mean another major cast shakeup is coming. After the unusually heavy turnover ahead of Season 51, there’s little reason at this point to expect anything comparable this year.
But when it comes to SNL’s occasionally confounding casting decisions, never say never.
One departure is already official. Chloe Fineman announced in July that she’s leaving after seven seasons on the show—a milestone that has become something of a natural decision point for cast members who make it that far.
There’s a practical reason for that. The original contracts signed by SNL cast members run seven seasons, after which performers who remain with the show are in a position to renegotiate their deals.
The show can, of course, cut a player before those seven seasons are up, and there are no stories of SNL forcing anyone to remain once they want to leave. But cast members who stick around beyond their initial contracts are more expensive than newer players.
Featured performers have been reported to earn less than $10,000 per episode when they join the show, with salaries increasing incrementally over the years to a reported cap of roughly $25,000 per episode under the standard deal. There are exceptions, particularly for the show’s longest-tenured stars. Unconfirmed reports have pegged 23-season veteran Kenan Thompson’s salary at around $100,000 per episode.
All of which is to say there are both creative and budgetary reasons for SNL to periodically cycle people in and out of its cast.
By this point in the summer, most returning cast members would traditionally have at least some idea where they stand. The show’s annual option to renew individual performers is said to expire on August 1.
Historically, though, SNL has treated that deadline as less than absolute. Former cast members have described waiting well beyond it to learn their fate, with some decisions stretching into September.
In other words, the absence of departure news doesn’t necessarily mean everyone is coming back, and even a cast member who expects to return may not have a signed deal in hand.
At least two performers have publicly suggested they’re returning.
During an appearance on Dustin Kaufman’s The Comedy Club podcast last month, Andrew Dismukes seemed to indicate he’ll be back.
“I’ll be going into my tenth season in total, three as a writer, this will be my seventh as a cast member,” Dismukes said.
Meanwhile, Kam Patterson also appeared to confirm his return in a joint USA Today interview with Marcello Hernandez. When Hernandez asked Patterson if he was coming back to SNL, Patterson said that he was.
“Nice,” Hernandez responded. “He’s back. That’s an exclusive!”
Whether either exchange reflects a formal pickup or simply an expectation that they’ll return isn’t clear.
What is clear is that the incoming side of the equation is still very much in motion.
Next week’s in-studio auditions should bring producers considerably closer to deciding whether any new featured players will join the Season 52 cast. And as Deadline noted, the usual caveats apply: performers can advance without having appeared at one of the showcases, and making it this far is no guarantee of a spot on the show.
If recent history is any guide, viewers shouldn’t expect the show itself to say much about any of this for a few more weeks. NBC typically waits until September to announce the season’s cast.
Departing performers, however, don’t have to wait. In recent years, cast members have usually broken the news themselves before the network made any formal announcement.
This year, the clock is ticking a little faster. Season 52 is set to premiere September 26, the show’s earliest season opener in 14 years. Stay tuned.
