Saturday Night Live Adds Six New Castmembers—Check 'Em Out!

NBC's famed sketch comedy show gets some fresh faces

By Josh Grossberg Sep 16, 2013 4:34 PMTags
Beck Bennett, Noel Wells, John MilhiserIMDB

Saturday Night Live is seeing its highest turnover in years with the recent departures of Jason Sudeikis, Bill Hader, Fred Armisen and the impending midseason exit of Seth Meyers to take over NBC's Late Night from Jimmy Fallon, who ascends to The Tonight Show throne in February.

But leave it to SNL mastermind Lorne Michaels to handpick a new generation of comedic talents to keep the laughs rolling.

As unveiled in a formal announcement Monday by the network, six new castmembers will be joining the Not Ready for Primetime Players this coming season, the show's 39th. They are Beck Bennett, Brooks Wheelan, Noël Wells, John Milhiser, Kyle Mooney, and Mike O'Brien.

Here's a brief rundown of each:

1. Beck Bennett: He's perhaps best known for appearing in those AT&T "It's Not Complicated" commercials, but the 28-year-old Illinois native has been making the sketch improvisation rounds first as a member of University of Southern California's comedy troupe Commedus Interruptus and then by forming his own group, Good Neighbor. The latter's spoof of Steven Spielberg's Hook even garnered the attention of the director himself, who encouraged Bennett and his partners to keep making movies. Good Neighbor also briefly developed a pilot for Comedy Central.

2. Brooks Wheelan: This stand-up artist and CollegeHumor writer was named as one of Comedy Central's Comics to Watch in 2012 and he'll join SNL's writing staff, but it's possible he'll make an occasional sketch appearance.

3. Noël Wells: This funnylady is an Upright Citizens Brigade member in Los Angeles and has her own YouTube channel where she does a terrific impression of Zooey Deschanel in a humorous web series called Hey! The Zooey Deschanel Show. She's also appeared in the short Siri Finds Out Steve Jobs Died as well as various CollegeHumor episodes.

4. John Milhiser: A UCB member since 2005, the New Jersey native has also been a member of a slew of improv teams including Slow Burn, Dweeb and Serious Lunch, the last of which appeared on The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien and Attack of the Show. One of his most hilarious shorts was this one uploaded last month featuring actress Marcia Gay Harden about dropping your kids off at college.

5. Kyle Mooney: This guy's definitely got a quick, quirky comedic sensibility which will fit in nicely with Armisen gone. He's done a slew of man-on-the-street interviews for Jimmy Kimmel Live and Sports Show With Norm MacDonald. He's also appeared on Parks and Recreation and performed with Bennett in Good Neighbor.

6. Mike O'Brien: An SNL writer, the 35-year-old comedian has earned additional fame as the host of 7 Minutes in Heaven, a popular web show based on the teenage makeout party game that has seen him interview and then smooch (or attempt to at any rate) a number of celebrities guests such as John Oliver, Elijah Wood, members of Insane Clown Posse and Christina Ricci.

The new season of Saturday Night Live kicks off Sept. 28 with Tina Fey as host and Arcade Fire as the musical guest.