Chloe Troast was just a few weeks into her tenure as a Saturday Night Live featured player when she was approached by fellow cast member Mikey Day and his SNL writing partner Streeter Seidell with the idea for what would become one of Season 49’s most memorable sketches.
While it was the writing partners who conceived “Little Orphan Cassidy,” Seidell says it would never have gotten off the ground were it not for Troast.
Troast—who confirmed late Monday night that she will not be returning for SNL‘s 50th season—starred in the quirky sketch, in which she played an orphan who sings an angsty duet with the moon (portrayed by Timothée Chalamet) about not getting adopted.
On the latest episode of LateNighter’s Inside Late Night With Mark Malkoff podcast, Seidell revealed how Troast had a distinct “vision” for the sketch.
“Certainly, it’s not all on Mikey [Day] and I,” Seidell said of the sketch’s success. “Mikey had just said to [Chloe], ‘Hey, you should do a thing where you’re singing to the moon or whatever.’ She did that whole song, the music and everything; the voice, all her. Mikey and I were like, ‘You’re going to do that voice? Okay. Hmm. Alright.’ We weren’t like, ‘Don’t do it,’ but it was like, ‘Okay.’ She just had this vision for that.”
Seidell emphasized that while he and Day always stick around to ensure production goes smoothly, a sketch like “Little Orphan Cassidy” wouldn’t have worked without Troast.
“Our role when a new cast member wants to do something ambitious is to just say, ‘We will structure the jokes and the pacing of this thing,’ because we’ve just done this a lot,” he added. “We’ll give it the best chance it has. We’ll make sure the production is on point … You just focus on your performance, because that’s what’s gonna make this thing work. You can have the greatest production in the world, but if the performance isn’t there, no one’s gonna care.”
“Little Orphan Cassidy” was a breakout moment for Troast, who had only joined SNL as a featured player a month prior. In one of the show’s more charming behind-the-scenes moments, Day (who also appeared in the sketch) can be seen giving Troast a warm attagirl as the camera pulls away at the end of the sketch.
Troast’s departure is one of the more surprising cuts in recent SNL history. Per LateNighter’s screen time tallies for Season 49, she logged more screen time than three more tenured SNL cast members (albeit two of those cast members—Punkie Johnson and Molly Kearney—also departed the series this summer). As recently as last month, it was even rumored that Troast was being upped to repertory status.
“Unfortunately I was not asked back to SNL this season,” Troast posted on Instagram shortly after Deadline broke the news of her exit. “I wish I was going to be with all the amazing friends I made there, it truly felt like home. But it wasn’t in the cards.”
SNL Season 50 kicks off on September 28.
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