Uncanny likenesses and unexpected roles: All the actors playing an original SNL cast member in Saturday Night

It's one of the longest-running shows in television history, but once upon a time, audiences had never seen anything like it.

Jason Reitman's latest film Saturday Night focuses on the 90 hectic minutes before the first-ever episode of Saturday Night Live, which at the time was just called Saturday Night.

The movies sees the original cast and creators scramble to get everything in order ahead of going live on TV.

"We began doing Zoom calls with anyone we could find that was in the building on October 11, 1975," shared the film's director Jason Reitman.

The movie sees stars such as Dylan O'Brien, Willem Dafoe and Rachel Sennott take on the roles of original SNL cast members and NBC executives.

Keep scrolling to see all the actors cast in the film, and learn about the real life counterparts they play.

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"I'm Chevy Chase... and you're not."

It was the catchphrase that became synonymous with the Weekend Update desk.

Chevy Chase was the original anchor for the ongoing Saturday Night Live segment, which has since seen a slew of hosts including Norm MacDonald, Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers and Colin Jost.

Despite his many controversies following his time on SNL, Chase was a defining player in the show's creation.

Weekend Update is one of the longest-running segments in television.

In 1975, New York magazine ran a cover dubbing Chase "the funniest man in America, and in 2015, Rolling Stone referred to him as possible "the most under-rated SNL player," adding, "It took him only one season to define the franchise."

However, Chase has had his fair share of controversies over the years, including a physical fight with fellow SNL cast member Bill Murray, and later being fired from the TV Community for using a racist slur toward Donald Glover. 

When it comes to casting, the team behind Saturday Night hit the nail on the head with this one.

Cory Michael Smith stars as Chase, and honestly, the resemblance is uncanny.

Smith told Entertainment Weekly Chase was one of the comedians he grew up watching, but there was one part of the performance he really had to work on to get right.

"The thing that was really important for me was making sure that his quips were dry. He's dry and nonchalant," Smith shared.

"So I was really trying to capture a certain Chevy cadence and snarkiness – without being too glib, because he is charming.

"So it was surfing that line of being sarcastic and dry without being too dark.

"I think a lot of what can read as confidence or cockiness comes in the way that he delivers lines, so it was sort of finding the most accurate tone."

Today, he's an award-winning TV producer with a whopping 21 Emmy wins under his belt.

But back in 1975, Lorne Michaels was just a kid with a dream. A dream that would later make him very, very rich.

Michaels is the mind behind SNL, being the driving force that created the now-iconic TV show.

He began as producer of the show, going on to take on other roles such as writer and executive producer, even appearing on screen here and there.

In the film, he was portrayed by rising star Gabrielle LaBelle.

Despite Reitman not thinking it essential, LaBelle said he worked really hard to get Michaels' physicality correct.

"I felt it was important, because so many of the people who inspired me came from SNL," the 22-year-old told The AU Review.

"They made the movies that made me want to be an actor.

"I wanted to get Lorne right for them, because these people know him so well, and they spent so much time with him," he added.

"He taught them so much. I did a lot of research to give context to my job of being a young person wanting to make something."

Dan Akroyd was one of the original SNL cast members, also signing on as a writer for the series.

He'd met Michaels when he was just a teenager working on the Canadian comedy scene, and when he was 23, Michaels asked him to join his new project.

"See, we all knew each other. Gilda [Radner], and Billy [Murray], and Brian [Murray], his brother, and I all worked together up in Canada," Aykroyd said in a 1978 interview

"Basically, I guess Lorne just had to look around for other talent, and finally grabbed the people he knew were ripe and ready to do it, you know?"

In the film, Akroyd is portrayed by The Maze Runner star Dylan O'Brien.

Although he's been praised for his performance, he originally felt he wasn't the right fit for the role, telling Men's Health he went into filming thinking he was "so wrong" for the part.

"I don't know. I was self-conscious that I didn't look like him, that I didn't sound like him, that I thought people wouldn't think me — Dan Aykroyd," the Teen Wolf actor shared.

But he came around saying that he eventually decided he didn't care if fans responded to the role poorly.

"I'm boned, but whatever," he said.

"It's great to be here and get to do this, and what a blast of a thing to get to be a part of."

Rosie Shuster was a childhood friend of Michaels, the pair working closely on several comedy sketches through high school and college.

In 1967, when she was 17 and he was 22, the duo got married.

They were together for 13 years – including the first five years of SNL – before divorcing in 1980.

Despite the breakdown of their relationship, Shuster and Michaels were able to maintain their working relationship.

Shuster was one of the founding writers on the show, working on the first seven seasons of SNL, before taking a break for seasons eight and nine, and later returning for seasons 10 to 13.

Bottoms actress Rachel Sennott portrays Shuster in Saturday Night.

Sennott was one of the very few cast members who met their real life counterpart before filming.

"[She] was amazing. I got to hear her voice and her laugh," Sennott told The Hollywood Reporter.

"I was like, 'So were you freaking out [on the night of the first episode]?' And she was like, 'Yeah, we knew it was a big deal, but also we didn't.'

"As a testament to [Saturday Night's] writing, I noticed that the script used words or phrases that she said in real life, so that was very cool."

Garrett Morris was one of the original cast members of SNL, appearing on the show from 1975 to 1980.

He first signed on as a writer, soon becoming an on screen player.

He's been open about battling racism during his time on the show, crediting Michaels for always 'having his back'.

"Look, when they told him [Michaels] to get rid of me, he didn't do that," Morris told The Hollywood Reporter in 2021.

"He allowed me to audition for something else. It wasn't just writers who wanted me gone; it was some NBC executives, too. Lorne didn't do that.

"So how can you do anything but thank him for that? Because without Saturday Night Live, I certainly would not have been nationally known."

Despite having the same last name, Lamorne Morris shares no relation to his real-life counterpart.

Lamorne was also lucky enough to get to spend time with Garrett ahead of production, saying the main thing he wanted to know was what his relationship was like with the rest of the cast and crew at the time.

"I knew the backdrop. The backdrop was Garrett was the only Black dude on the show," Lamorne told The Hollywood Reporter.

"And a lot of the writers were racist, and the jokes were a certain type of way he wasn't necessarily comfortable with. So he had beef with certain writers and things like that.

"I knew that setting was where he was living. But I wanted to know, with the rest of the castmates, who he vibed with, who he partied with."

Lamorne says having Garret break down those connections really helped him once he got on set.

"You start seeing the energy of everybody else and what everybody likes to do," he said.

"And then I'm going to each actor and I'm explaining to them what Garrett said about the person that they're playing, and we collabed that way."

David Tebet was an NBC Executive responsible for recruiting potential stars, then taking on the responsibility of keeping them with the network.

In 1975, he was responsible for making the decision as to whether or not SNL would make it to air.

Following a disastrous dress rehearsal, the decision came right down to the wire. 

Hollywood star Willem Dafoe took on the role of Tebet for the film.

In the film, Tebet threatens to scrap SNL and replace it with a rerun of Johnny Carson.

While that's not exactly hot it all went down, Tebet was hovering with the intent of cancelling the show if needed.

Apparently, rather than the idea of SNL itself, it was George Carlin Tebet was most worried about.

The network exec was allegedly concerned about what could come out of Carlin's mouth live on TV. 

Jacqueline Carlin – no relation to to George Carlin – was an actress and model engaged to Chase.

She appeared on the show only a few times, including in the first episode, however her first episode appearance went uncredited.

She went on to marry Chase in 1976, with the couple later divorcing in 1980.

Model and emerging actress Kaia Gerber, the daughter of Cindy Crawford, took on the role of Carlin for the film.

Prior to working on set, Gerber was working on the TV show Palm Royale alongside SNL alum Kristen Wigg.

She told Entertainment Tonight she used the opportunity to pick Wigg's brain about what it's really like to work on the show.

"I would always, in between takes, be like, 'Please tell me all your stories,'" she said back in March.

"I've been a fan of Kristen's, I think her work on that show is brilliant.

"So, yeah, she gave me some advice," she said, adding that she was also "excited to go back to the '70s."

John Belushi was one of the breakout stars of SNL.

He become known for his physical comedy and his manic character play that pushed him into the spotlight when on screen with other actors.

He had several iconic characters in the show, and ended up leaving SNL in 1979.

Sadly, on March 5 1982, Belushi died of a drug overdose when he was 33 years old. 

With an uncanny resemblance, Matt Wood took on the role.

However, he had a rocky start to the filming process.

On the first night of filming, he was shooting a scene alongside Ella Hunt, who stars as Gilda Radner.

The two were ice skating when Wood fell and hit his head.

Thankfully, they'd gotten most of what they needed from Wood's perspective, so when he left to go to the hospital, the film's director stepped onto the rink to finish the scene in his place. 

Gilda Radner was the first cast member Michaels recruited for the show.

She created several iconic characters, even winning an Emmy Award for her time on the show.

In 2015 when Rolling Stone ranked each of SNL's cast members to date at the time, Radner came in at ninth place.

"[She] was the most beloved of the original cast," the publication wrote.

"In the years between Mary Tyler Moore and Seinfeld's Elaine, Radner was the prototype for the brainy city girl with a bundle of neuroses."

Sadly, Radner died of ovarian cancer in 1989.

Until taking on the role of Radner, Ella Hunt said she didn't think she was funny.

Appearing on The Kelly Clarkson Show, the British actress said she had no idea who Radner was prior to being cast in the movie.

"We only really see the things that go viral from SNL in the UK, so I just had no idea who she was," Hunt said.

"I feel like I've been passed a very lovely baton from all these people who have been inspired by Gilda.

"That's what I said during my audition, this would be so much more daunting if she was my hero or if I was a comedian," she added.

"Pre this movie, I didn't think I was funny,... maybe it's turning out who knows, the film hasn't really come out yet."

Jim Henson is, famously, the creator behind The Muppets.

Shortly after creating Muppets for Sesame Street, Henson moved over to SNL, hoping to create an adult puppetry skit for the comedy variety show.

However, since it didn't quite hit with the audience, it wasn't long before Henson and his Muppets got the boot from SNL.