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Meet The 3 Fresh Faces of "SNL"!

Written by Mike Dolzer. Published: September 19 2016

 

With the regrettable departures of Taran Killam, Jay Pharoah, and Jon Rudnitsky, “Saturday Night Live” was left with quite a hole in its cast. To fill the void, three talented newbies have been invited to join the ranks of the iconic sketch show in its upcoming 42nd season. Get hype now!

 

Mikey Day

Day joins the cast from the deep bench of writers that "SNL" boasts. He has previously done stints on “Wild N’ Out”, MTV’s improv show created by Nick Cannon, and “Maya & Marty”, the summer vareity show starring "SNL" alums Maya Rudolph and Martin Short. Many of the sketch show’s brightest stars have started in the writer’s room, including Seth Meyers, Tina Fey, and current breakout star Leslie Jones.

 

Here’s one of Day’s more memorable sketches on “Maya & Marty”:

 

 

 

Melissa Villaseñor

Of the three newbies, Melissa Villaseñor is the one with the most star quality. Her impressions of Kathy Griffin and Natalie Portman are near flawless, with an array of other voices under her belt as well -- and it's no secret that the castmembers with the most impressions in their arsenal tend to have a longer shelf life. Villaseñor was one of the 16 finalists in Season 6 of “America’s Got Talent” and has additionally lent her voice to TV series “Adventure Time”, “Trip Tank”, and “Family Guy”.

 

Check out some of Villaseñor’s classic imitations in her first audition for “America’s Got Talent”:

 

 

 

Alex Moffat

The final member of the new trio is Alex Moffat, a noted improv performer who has been featured at a variety of famous comedy clubs like Zanies, The Second City, The Comedy Bar, and others. Aside from rocking the comedy club scene, Moffat starred in and wrote a sketch comedy pilot for NBC and made his acting debut in the feature Uncle John.

 

 

 

All in all, it is always exciting to see new faces join “Saturday Night Live” because fresh energy is what has kept the show chugging along for all of these years. While Melissa Villaseñor could be the next Kristen Wiig, we are not counting out the two new guys either. Season 42, here we come!

 

(Screenshot via YouTube)

 

- Mike Dolzer, YH Contributing Writer