Brooklyn-based comedian Davidson has been handpicked by series creator Lorne Michaels to join the 40th season, while O'Brien will return to the writers room.
- Sep 16, 2014
AceShowbiz - "Saturday Night Live" welcomes another new face in its upcoming 40th season. The show has confirmed through its Twitter page that Pete Davidson will join the line-up as new featured player. "Welcome to the cast, @petedavidson!" so reads the post.
According to Deadline, the 20-year-old Brooklyn-based stand-up comedian was handpicked by series creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels himself. He first hit the stage at 16 and had roles on the revived "Wild 'N Out" and MTV's "Guy Code".
He also guest starred on "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" and appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in April. He said when performing a stand-up set on the talk show, "I just dropped out of college. That's my big move this year."
As "SNL" is adding a new featured player, Mike O'Brien is dropped from the cast. The 38-year-old comedian, who has been a writer on the sketch series since 2009 and made his debut as a featured player last year, will return to the writers room in the next season.
"SNL" previously announced another shake-up by replacing Cecily Strong with Michael Che, a correspondent on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart", as a co-anchor in "Weekend Update" segment. Strong will remain a cast member on the show.
Pete Davidson on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!":
