Why Jason Reitman Advised ‘Saturday Night’ Cast Against Meeting Real-Life ‘SNL’ Counterparts
variety.comRebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter Lamorne Morris went against the better wishes of “Saturday Night” director Jason Reitman when meeting with original “Saturday Night Live” cast member Garrett Morris, whom he plays in the upcoming movie about the origins of the famed sketch comedy show.
You see, Reitman wasn’t keen on the film’s sprawling ensemble — Gabriel LaBelle plays Lorne Michaels, Rachel Sennott plays writer Rosie Shuster, Cory Michael Smith plays Chevy Chase, Ella Hunt plays Golda Radner and Dylan O’Brien plays Dan Aykroyd — interacting with their on-screen counterparts prior to production. “Saturday Night,” which premieres on Tuesday at the Toronto Film Festival, takes place entirely on the night of the first “SNL” episode. “Garrett was going through similar things that I find myself going through in my career, so it was easy to relate to that ‘fish out of water’ feeling,” he said. “So, I wanted to make sure that that’s actually what Garrett was feeling.
I’m very grateful that I did what I had to do.” Although only some of the cast listened to that advice, Reitman, the director of “Juno” and “Up in the Air,” stands by his assignment to the cast. “The homework was ‘don’t prep’ because at the end of the day, the idea is to capture one piece of the character,” he said at Variety’s Toronto Film Festival studio, presented by J.
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