Beck Bennett (l), seen here with Heidi Gardner and Kyle Mooney, will not be returning to Saturday … [+]
After a summer rife with speculation over cast departures, Beck Bennett announced that he will not be returning to Saturday Night Live for season 47. The news came as a surprise to fans who were focused on the potential loss of other longtime repertory players Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, and Kate McKinnon. All three are confirmed to be returning.
Bennett spent eight seasons on SNL. He joined the cast, along with his Good Neighbor teammate Kyle Mooney, as a featured player for season 39 in 2013 and was promoted to the regular cast in 2015. Some of his most memorable impressions included former Vice President Mike Pence, Senator Mitch McConnell, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Love you, SNL,” Bennett posted on Instagram. “Gonna miss you so much. Thank you for 8 years of remarkable people and incredible experiences that completely changed my life. I had so much fun.”
Lauren Holt, who joined the show in season 46 as a featured player, will also not be returning.
To fill the void, SNL has added three new featured players to the comedy fold. Comedian Aristotle Athari comes from the sketch comedy troupe “Goatface.” Actor and comedian James Austin Johnson is known for impressions — particularly of Donald Trump. Rounding out the trio is writer and actress Sarah Sherman.
Featured players Chloe Fineman and Bowen Yang have been promoted to the regular cast.
Overall, the season 47 will be 21 members strong. Repertory players include McKinnon, Strong, Davidson, Fineman and Yang, as well as Aidy Bryant, Michael Che, Pete Davidson, Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner, Colin Jost, Kate McKinnon, Alex Moffat, Mooney, Ego Nwodim, Chris Redd, Cecily Strong, Kenan Thompson and Melissa Villaseñor; and the featured players will consist of Andrew Dismukes, Punkie Johnson, Athari, Johnson and Sherman.
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Season 46 of the venerable late night comedy sketch series was the most-watched entertainment program on TV among viewers in the highly coveted 18 to 49 advertising demographic. The show recently picked up its fifth straight win in the Variety Sketch Series category at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards, taking its Emmy total to 86 wins.
SNL season 47 premieres October 2nd on NBC at 11:30 PM ET/10:30 PM CT, with host Owen Wilson and musical guest Kacey Musgraves.
