SNL 1975: Jason Reitman’s Movie Adds Willem Dafoe and Jon Batiste to Cast

The cast of the Saturday Night Live biopic just added some major names. On Friday, reports confirmed that Willem Dafoe and Jon Batiste will appear in the film, which is operating under the working title of SNL 1975. Dafoe is set to play David Tebet, who was NBC’s VP of Talent Relations at the time of SNL‘s launch. Batiste, meanwhile, will score the film, and will portray keyboardist and singer Billy Preston, who was the show’s first-ever musical guest. 

Dafoe and Batiste join a cast that includes Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels, Cooper Hoffman as Dick Ebersol, Rachel Sennott as Rosie Shuster, Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd, Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris, Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase, Matt Wood as John Belushi, Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner, Emily Fairn as Laraine Newman, Kim Matula as Jane Curtin, Nicholas Braun as Jim Henson, Kaia Gerber as Jacqueline Carlin, J.K. Simmons as Milton Berle, and Finn Wolfhard as an NBC page.

What Is SNL 1975 About?

On October 11, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. SNL 1975 is the true story of what happened that night behind the scenes in the moments leading up to the first broadcast of SNL. It depicts the chaos and magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, counting down the minutes in real time to the infamous words, ‘Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!’

SNL 1975 is directed and co-written by Jason Reitman, who wrote the script with Gil Kenan. It is based on the duo’s interviews with living cast, scribes and crew about the launch of the show. Reitman, Kenan, Jason Blumenfeld and Peter Rice serve as producers, while Erica Mills and JoAnn Perritano are executive producers.

Who Is in the Saturday Night Live Cast?

Cast members for Saturday Night Live season 49 include almost the entire cast from season 48 of SNL. Returning stars include Michael Che, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, James Austin Johnson, Punkie Johnson, Colin Jost, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson, and Bowen Yang. Featured players that are part of the cast include returning stars Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow, and Devon Walker, plus the show’s only fully new cast member for the year, newcomer Chloe Troast. The comedy troupe Please Don’t Destroy, made up of Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy, are also a recurring part of the series. 

What do you think of SNL 1975‘s latest cast members? Are you excited for the upcoming film? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!