Surprising news out of Studio 8H as Saturday Night Live confirmed on Monday that cast members Taran Killam and Jay Pharoah will not return for season 42 of the show this fall. Both performers had been on SNL for six seasons. The news was first reported by TV Line’s Michael Ausiello.
While Killam, 34, might not have become a breakout star from the show, he’s been an extremely valuable player on the cast. During the Republican presidential campaign, he portrayed Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. He’s also played Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Brad Pitt and Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy on the show, among dozens of impressions. Most recently, Killam might be best known for his impersonation of Matthew McConaughey.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/606112
Pharoah, 28, is probably best known on SNL for his portrayal of President Barack Obama, taking over the role (and doing a much better job) after Fred Armisen portrayed the president for three seasons. His other impressions on the show include Will Smith, Jay-Z, Eddie Murphy, Chris Tucker, former Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson and Denzel Washington.
That impression of Washington may have been what Pharoah was most known for prior to joining SNL, but he didn’t often have the opportunity to play the character on the show. Thanks to the movie Unstoppable, however, Pharoah got to show everyone his Denzel alongside Killam playing Chris Pine.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/193067
Killam recently revealed in an interview with Uproxx’s Mike Ryan that his contract wasn’t going to be renewed after this season, which was a curious decision by producers. That made the official announcement from SNL all but a formality. Killam definitely seemed uncertain as to why he wasn’t going to be brought back, but as he told Ryan, it sounds as if he intended to leave after his contract expired anyway.
“I don’t know fully. I don’t know the other side of it. You sign for seven years, so I had one more year. I had sort of had it in my head I would make this upcoming year my last year, but then heard they weren’t going to pick up my contract. I was never given a reason why, really.”
However, Killam also acknowledged that his film work was beginning to impose on his SNL obligations — notably his directorial debut, Why We’re Killing Gunther, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger (and Killam’s wife, Cobie Smulders).
Pharoah has yet to comment on the decision not to bring him back, but his contract was presumably up after this season as well. He had taken some movie roles, most recently in Lola Versus and Ride Along, but there’s no indication that working on films was interfering with his SNL schedule or becoming something he chose to pursue instead. Executive producer Lorne Michaels may have just decided he wanted to make a change. Maybe we’ll hear more from him in the days and weeks to come.
UPDATE: SNL also confirmed that Jon Rudnitsky will not be returning to the show. He was with the cast for one season.
No premiere date has yet been announced for season 42 of SNL. However, the guess is that the show will want to come back in October and capitalize on the upcoming presidential election.
[TVLine]
