'SNL' Season 39 Premiere: Everything You Need to Know About the New Cast
For the past 38 years, Saturday Night Live (SNL) has made us laugh, helped us justify staying at home in our pajamas, and introduced us to some of the greatest comedians that have ever taken a stage. This Saturday's episode, kicks off season 39 with former SNL cast member Tina Fey hosting and musical guest Arcade Fire.
In advance of the premiere, here's an introduction to the new and returning cast members who will have you in stitches all year.
New Cast Members
Kyle Mooney
Age: 29
Twitter: @kylemooney
Other roles and projects: Will star in the new HBO series Hello Ladies. Past roles include Wilfred and Parks and Recreation.
Bonus facts: Mooney cofounded the Good Neighbor sketch group with fellow SNL newcomer Beck Bennett.
Beck Bennett
Age: 28
Twitter: @becbenit
Other roles and projects: Will appear in the upcoming feature films Intramural and Beside Still Waters.
Bonus facts: Bennett may look familiar. He plays the focus group moderator that talks to kids in the current AT&T commercials.
Noel Wells
Age: 26
Twitter: @RealTomHankz
Other roles and projects: Played the lead character in the independent film Forev and appeared in several CollegeHumor Original videos.
Bonus facts: Wells' self-produced comedy videos have over 12 million total views on YouTube.
John Milhiser
Age: 31
Twitter: @JohnMilhiser
Other roles and projects: Has appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, G4's Attack of the Show, and MTV's It's on with Alexa Chung.
Bonus facts: Milhiser cocreated a meme featuring celebrities and comedians posing with French bread in place of everyday objects.
Mike O'Brien
Age: 37
Twitter: @MikeOBrienXOXO
Other roles and projects: Has appeared in the series Portlandia, and will be in the upcoming feature film Staten Island Summer.
Bonus facts: O'Brien hosts the web series 7 Minutes in Heaven, in which he interviews celebrities in a closet. He has been a writer for SNL since 2010.
Brooks Wheelan
Age: Unknown. This must be a deep, dark secret.
Twitter: @brookswheelan
Other roles and projects: Recorded his television debut for Comedy Central's Adam Devine's House Party this year.
Bonus facts: Wheelan was named one of Comedy Central's Top 10 Comics to Watch in 2012.
Returning Cast Members
Seth Meyers
Age: 39
Twitter: @sethmeyers
Number of seasons on SNL: 12
Awards: Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for writing SNL host Justin Timberlake's musical monologue.
Other roles and projects: Executive producer and voice actor on Hulu's animated superhero show The Awesomes.
Bonus facts: This will be the last season for Meyers, SNL's head writer. He will replace Jimmy Fallon on Late Night in February.
Vanessa Bayer
Age: 31
Number of seasons on SNL: 3
Notable SNL characters: Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy, Hillary Clinton, Kourtney Kardashian, and Miley Cyrus
Other roles and projects: Cocreator of and actor in the upcoming web series Sound Advice with Janessa Slater.
Bonus facts: During college, Bayer interned at Sesame Street and Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
Aidy Bryant
Age: 26
Twitter: @aidybryant
Number of seasons on SNL: 1
Notable SNL characters: Morgan in the "Girlfriends Talk Show" sketch, presidential debate moderator Candy Crowley.
Bonus facts: Bryant toured the world with a musical improv group called Baby Wants Candy.
Taran Killam
Age: 31
Twitter: @TaranKillam
Number of seasons on SNL: 3
Notable SNL characters: One of the robotic dancing Merryville brothers, everyone from Brad Pitt and Eminem to Rush Limbaugh and Marco Rubio.
Other roles and projects: The Heat, Grown Ups 2, and the upcoming drama Twelve Years a Slave.
Bonus facts: Also does voice work in fellow cast member Meyers' animated series The Awesomes.
Kate McKinnon
Age: 29
Number of seasons on SNL: 1
Notable SNL characters: Weekend Update guests Olya Povlatsky, a Russian meteor witness, and artist Cecilia Gimenez, an artist.
Other roles and projects: Stars in the upcoming films Life Partners, Staten Island Summer, and Intramural.
Bonus facts: McKinnon wrote and performed three one-woman shows while she was part of New York's Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.
Bobby Moynihan
Age: 36
Twitter: @bibbymoynihan
Number of seasons on SNL: 5
SNL characters: Drunk Uncle on Weekend Update, the truth-challenged news anchor Anthony Crispino, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Chris Christie, and Newt Gingrich.
Other roles and projects: Appears on HBO's Girls and ABC's Happy Endings. Will star in the feature films The Delivery Man, with Vince Vaughn, and Neighbors, with Seth Rogen and Zac Efron.
Bonus facts: Moynihan created the web series Sidecar in 2012. Despite his busy schedule with SNL, Moynihan continues to perform regularly at Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York.
Nasim Pedrad
Age: 31
Number of seasons on SNL: 2
SNL characters: Kim Kardashian, Barbara Walters, and Arianna Huffington.
Other roles and projects: Played a nurse in ER. Currently does voice work for Meyers' The Awesomes.
Bonus facts: Pedrad was born in Iran. Her one-woman show Me, Myself, and Iran was selected for the 2007 HBO Comedy Festival in Las Vegas.
Jay Pharoah
Age: 25
Twitter: @JayPharoah
Number of seasons on SNL: 3
SNL characters: School principal Daniel Frye, President Barack Obama, and Kanye West.
Other roles and projects: Upcoming feature film appearances include Get a Job, with Bryan Cranston and Anna Kendrick, and Finally Famous, with Chris Rock.
Bonus facts: Pharoah's Kanye West parody I Am A Dog had over a million views in its first week online.
Cecily Strong
Age: 29
Twitter: @cecilybecily
Number of seasons on SNL: 1
SNL characters: Weekend Update's the Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation with at a Party
Other roles and projects: Does voice work for The Awesomes and will appear in the upcoming feature film Staten Island Summer.
Bonus facts: Strong will be coanchoring Weekend Update with Meyers.
Kenan Thompson
Age: 35
Number of seasons on SNL: 10
SNL characters: Disruptive singing talk show host D'Andre Cole, convict Lorenzo McIntosh, Bill Cosby, CeeLo Green, and Whoopi Goldberg.
Other roles and projects: Appears in the upcoming film They Came Together alongside fellow comedians Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, and Ed Helms.
Bonus facts: Millennials probably best know Thompson from his days on Nickelodeon's All That and Kenan and Kel.
