SNL Hires 2 New Female Cast Members for Season 35

[BillBrasky]

The Comics Comic reports that two new cast members have been hired for SNL's 35th season, and they are both female. Jenny Slate, who has performed a one-woman show called "Dead Millionaire" at the NY UCB theater, apparently impressed NBC with her appearances as a network page and, later, Jimmy's assistant, in the "7th Floor West" parody series within "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon". (Here's the episode in which Jimmy meets Jenny.) Slate has also made brief appearances on "Important Things with Demetri Martin" and "The Whitest Kids U Know".



Nasim Pedrad is an Iranian-born comedienne who has worked with The Groundlings, the UCB Theatre and Improv Olympic.
Over the past couple of years, Pedrad also has been featured elsewhere on NBC, playing "Nurse Suri" in several episodes of ER. Clips from her one-woman show, "Me, Myself, and Iran" have been taken down from Youtube.






While no official announcement has been made yet, it's clear that one of the current female cast members is probably not going to be returning to the show, and obviously it's not going to be Kristen Wiig. All signs point to it being Casey Wilson, who is scheduled to perform in a show at the UCB theater in LA two days before SNL's premiere date.

[Liezl]

wow, more ladies?
They're not even utilizing the ones already in the cast.

They could use a James Adomian in there.

[mueXog]

I never understood why they didn't give Casey more to do, she's hilarious.

[kevin]

i bet she would've stayed if tina fey hadn't taken up the palin role. =(

[thecomicscomic]

I didn't mention Casey, because from what I know, nobody has been cut officially (even though Darrell Hammond clearly acted like he was saying goodbye in the season finale this spring!), and also, Casey still will appear at least on film this season. So. Stay tuned?

Some of the comments on my site already have gone way off tangent. AST FTW?

[KevinLee]

I've seen Jenny Slate Live and she's amazing.

[Umlaut]

SNL hires two HOTTIES.

I mean DAAAAAMMMNNNN.

(Sorry for the objectification, I know nothing of their comedy yet).

[Scratch Lightning]

Jenny and Gabe did a short film at the MoMA and it was probably the hardest I've laughed at anything in a theater. I checked out their website after that. She's really, really good.

I don't know anything about Nasim Pedrad execpt DAMN.

[joe mande]

Speaking as one of Jenny Slate's good friends, I can say objectively that she is the absolute best and is going to murder it on SNL.

[yumitree]

jenny slate can also often be seen with AST members gabe & max.

[pollymaepry]

she can also be seen EVERYWHERE in SO MANY THINGS. anyone who doesn't know who she is is a gay who doesn't pay attention.

yeah she's pretty cooooool

[yumitree]

shut up, polly. i'm trying to make this about us!

[thecomedian]

Darrell is in negotiations per this interview

[Sean P. OConnor]

Seriously, Jenny is just about one of the funniest people I've ever met.

And I heard Michaela Watkins is out.

[BillBrasky]

Here's a video from the Groundlings that has Nasim Pedrad in it; I think she's the woman with longer hair in the green top:

"Trash Talk" Sketch From Groundlings Show "El Rancho Advanco" from Marisol Medina on Vimeo.

[billynord]

Terrific news! Jenny Slate is quite funny.

Also, I'm sorry to sound like a complainenstein, but just out of curiosity - in regards to the thread title, why is it important to specify the two new cast members are female?

Just wondering, in Brooklyn.

[Hated Milk Machine]

Terrific news! Jenny Slate is quite funny.

Also, I'm sorry to sound like a complainenstein, but just out of curiosity - in regards to the thread title, why is it important to specify the two new cast members are female?

Just wondering, in Brooklyn.

Because news, in general, tries to paint a complete picture and doesn't intentionally leave out details?

[isoS]

And because in its history, SNL has had a spotty record when it comes to casting women. Not lately, but if you look back you will find a lot of male-dominated casts with token females. Remember the Mr. Show Boys Club sketch?

[billynord]

I guess the details in the title just seemed a little forced to me, regardless of SNL's history. And it is kind of history - in the last five years a number of SNL's great female performers have rocketed into stardom, which I think had a lot to do with the show's embrace.

I don't know, in my own passive/aggressive way I'm just trying to say, I wish we could move on and not focus on whether a talented performer is a boy or girl.

I love you.

[pixel revolt]

I guess the details in the title just seemed a little forced to me, regardless of SNL's history. And it is kind of history - in the last five years a number of SNL's great female performers have rocketed into stardom, which I think had a lot to do with the show's embrace.

I don't know, in my own passive/aggressive way I'm just trying to say, I wish we could move on and not focus on whether a talented performer is a boy or girl.

I love you.

You sound like a girl.