Saturday Night Live stars came together to share the cover of New York Magazine’s 20th annual “Reasons to Love New York” issue.
The outlet brought 60 cast members and hosts in for photo shoots at studios in both NYC and Los Angeles as part of the show’s ongoing 50th anniversary celebration.
Explaining how the shoot came together, the magazine’s Megh Wright shares that Lorne Michaels gave the project his blessing in early October. They broke down the cast list into categories for their outreach including “Hall of Famers,” “Famous People People Don’t Realize Were on SNL,” and “Deep Cuts.”
While different cast members did their shoots at different times, there was plenty of crossover. Moments shared in the piece and on social media include Tina Fey and Julia Louis-Dreyfus talking about Upper West Side barbecue, Mike Myers kissing Joe Piscopo, and pals John Mulaney and Bill Hader doing bits with Martin Short. Fey also used the opportunity to talk the Short/Meryl Streep romance with Steve Martin.
You can see clips of who was on set with who in this behind-the-scenes video, featuring cast members climbing multi-tiered sets and also being photographed in solo sessions:
The vast majority assembled were members of the cast, but the hosts who made the cut included Alec Baldwin, Candice Bergen, Martin, Christopher Walken, and writer-turned-host Mulaney—who are each members of the Five-Timers Club.
Some of the famed but shorter-lived cast members who appeared for the shoot include Billy Crystal, Janeane Garofalo, Short, Sarah Silverman, and Casey Wilson. Also making appearances are writers and brief cast members Terry Sweeney and Don Novello.
Together, those assembled make up the magazine’s first-ever five-panel fold-out cover, shot by famed photographer David LaChapelle on five different sets. You can read more of the magazine’s celebration of the New York-ness of SNL here. View all five covers below:
