Saturday Night Live‘s cast of comedians is shrinking even more before Season 48 kicks off. Alex Moffat, Melissa Villaseñor, and Aristotle Athari are officially exiting ahead of the NBC sketch show’s return later this month.
The three are just the latest cast members to depart from the long-running series following Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Kyle Mooney, and Pete Davidson earlier this year. The large ensemble of players will be noticeably smaller without seven of its team members.
(Credit: Will Heath/NBC)
Moffat, Villaseñor, and Athari are leaving just weeks ahead of the new season, which has yet to announce hosts or musical guests. This comes almost six years after Moffat and Villaseñor first boarded the cast as featured players in 2016. They were both promoted to series regulars in 2018.
As for Athari, he joined the series last year in Season 47, making his run a shorter one. He memorably introduced the character Stand-Up Robot Laughingtosh 3000 during the show’s Weekend Update segment.
Villaseñor’s role served as a milestone for the series as she became the second Latina to join the cast and the first to be promoted to repertory status. To date, the longest-running cast member on the series is Kenan Thompson, who joined the show in 2003. He’s currently set to helm the 2022 Emmy Awards.
Stay tuned for any other potential casting changes and news regarding hosts, musical guests, and a premiere date as we head into the fall season.
Saturday Night Live, Season 48 Premiere, TBA, NBC
