Saturday Night Live Promotes Ego Nwodim to Main Cast Member

Saturday Night Live has remained a cultural institution for decades, turning an array of entertainers in the comedy world into household names. As the show prepares for its upcoming 46th season, one of its fan-favorite cast members is getting a pretty significant promotion. According to a new report, Ego Nwodim has been promoted from a featured player to a main cast member ahead of Season 46. Nwodim has been on the long-running sketch comedy series since 2018. She was one of three "featured player" cast members this past season, along with Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman.

In her tenure on Saturday Night Live, Nwodim has gotten positive buzz for her takes on several characters, including Tiffany Haddish, Lupita Nyongo's Us character, and "L'evanka" Trump. Nwodim is only the seventh Black woman to be a cast member of the iconic series.

"As a black woman, and I think most minorities will agree or say they share this experience, you are sort of a representative for the group you're in, whether you like it or not," Nwodim previously told The Hollywood Reporter. "Hopefully that doesn't have to be the case many moons from now, and sooner rather than later. I understand I'm the seventh black woman cast on the show, and that's an incredible honor. I hope that ultimately there will be more and I'll be in a larger pool of people. But it's exciting; it's more exciting than burdensome, I would say, to get to be in the position that I'm in as the seventh African-American female cast member on the show."

Outside of Saturday Night Live, Nwodim has had roles in The Broken Hearts Gallery, Law & Order True Crime, and Brockmire. She also has portrayed a roster of characters on the podcast version of Comedy Bang! Bang!.

Starring alongside Nwodim on Saturday Night Live are Beck Bennett, Aidy Bryant, Michael Che, Pete Davidson, Mikey Day, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Colin Jost, Kate McKinnon, Alex Moffat, Kyle Mooney, Chris Redd, Cecily Strong, Kenan Thompson, Melissa Villasenor, and Bowen Yang.

What do you think of Nwodim being promoted on Saturday Night Live ahead of Season 46? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Saturday Night Live is expected to return with new episodes this fall.

h/t: Deadline