Saturday Night Live’s Chloe Fineman “hasn’t fully processed” the exits of several of her cast members, but she’s “heartbroken.”
Fineman called SNL boss Lorne Michaels’ latest cleaning house “shocking stuff” during an interview with Extra at New York Fashion Week Thursday. She found the rapid exits “pretty wild,” she shared, and is feeling “a little heartbreak, sadness” even though she’s used to the show’s “turnovers.” Fineman’s return for Season 51 marks her seventh on the show.
“I’ve like, done it,” she said of frequently saying goodbye to exiting cast members, but “these people stay in your lives.”
Heidi Gardner, Emil Wakim, Devon Walker, and Michael Longfellow will be missing from the show’s new season. Several writers, including Celeste Yim and Rosebud Baker, have also left the show. Michaels told Puck that some of the changes to the show were anticipated before Season 50, but he didn’t want to “distract” from the celebratory festivities.
The most “shocking” development was the end of Gardner’s tenure after eight years on the show. Gardner has yet to publicly comment on her exit, but the New York Post—as well as SNL alum Dana Carvey—have suggested she was not invited back for another season.
Bowen Yang also addressed the exits with special emphasis on Gardner’s Wednesday, telling her, “You are one of the greats. You will go down in history,” and the show will be missing an “anchor” without her.
Aside from Gardner, the rest of the show’s major stars, including Kenan Thompson, Sarah Sherman, Ego Nwodim, and Yang, are all returning.
As sad as Fineman may feel about Michaels breaking up the band, she said she’s “excited” about “the new people.”
New additions to the cast include Veronika Slowikowska, Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson, and “Please Don’t Destroy” member Ben Marshall. Fineman said the first thing she noticed about the new crop of players is how “young” they are.
“When I saw how young the new cast was, I immediately got a laser,” the 37-year-old said, stretching the skin of her face back. “I was like, ‘Do I get the forever-35 facelift?’ I was reading all of their ages and I felt like I was in Death Becomes Her‚” she quipped.
As for her own future on the show, Fineman said she’s looking forward to embodying “some of those political people.” She played Melania Trump is the show’s “The White Potus” sketch in April.
When Extra told the comedian fans want to see her play the first lady again, Fineman replied, in character, “So do I.”
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