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Saturday Night Live’s history is long, storied and well-documented, plus many of the comedians who worked on the show – including members of the original 1975 cast – are still working. However, when it came time for Dylan O’Brien to prep his take on Dan Aykroyd for the film about SNL’s origins, he did basically nothing. But, that’s actually exactly what director Jason Reitman wanted the cast of Saturday Night to do.
As the highly anticipated film Saturday Night prepares to drop on the 2024 movie schedule around the same time the 50th season of SNL premieres on NBC, the cast and creatives behind the film are chatting about what it was like embodying comedy icons. However, when O’Brien was asked by Variety about how he prepared to play one of SNL’s legendary cast members, he said:
I did not do a lot of prep…I was the only one who did the homework by not doing the homework.
In the same interview, other cast members talked about going against Reitman’s wishes. Rachel Sennott talked to Rosie Shuster, Ella Hunt spoke with one of Gilda Radner’s close friends and collaborators, and Lamorne Morris met Garrett Morris. Meanwhile, while Gabriel LaBelle only met Lorne Michaels very briefly, he did read a ton of books and interviews. Cory Michael Smith – whose Chevy Chase impression is on point – also said he “compulsively” watched the comedian he played to prepare.
However, when it came to O’Brien he didn’t do a lot in the lead up to this shoot. I’m sure it’s possible that he maybe watched some sketches or some of Aykroyd’s classic ‘80s movies. However, on the whole, he simply came in ready to perform, and that’s what Saturday Night’s director wanted, as Jason Reitman explained:
The homework was, don’t prep, you already know how to do this. ‘Cause at the end of the day, the idea is to capture one piece of essence of the character. You can’t actually replicate the person 100%, and particularly in an ensemble this big. So, it was about one part of the essence of somebody, how do you bring that to life? And more so, how do you get along as a group? And that’s what was so cool about this cast is that from day one they made the building feel alive.
Admittedly, out of all the big SNL stars they could have brought in for this film, Dan Aykroyd seemed like the one who would be at the top of that list. He worked with Jason’s dad Ivan Reitman on Ghostbusters, and then he collaborated with Jason on the reboot of that franchise, Ghostbusters: Afterlife. In an interview with ET at the premiere of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the Blues Brothers star also said he speaks with Jason frequently, so that connection is very strong.
However, when it came to chatting about Saturday Night they didn’t talk much about it, as Aykroyd said:
No, his take on it is intact, and I don’t think he wants any undue influence of people who might say ‘Oh, it was this way…I didn’t you or he didn’t do that.’ He wants to have free form on it.
When it came to the Teen Wolf actor’s casting, Aykroyd said he was just glad “the young actor got work.”
So, while he didn’t have much say in the film, it does sound like Dan Aykroyd is excited about it, and he understands why Jason Reitman wanted to keep his movie in its own bubble.
And I understand it too. Saturday Night is about the 90 minutes that led up to the premiere of SNL’s first episode. That time isn’t something that was documented on film, and the people who were on the show then are different and a lot older now. So, it was important to Reitman that his cast focused on the task at hand and their own takes on these legends. Clearly, the worked too, because Saturday Night’s cast is being praised for their performances left and right.
To see Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd in Saturday Night, you can catch the film in theaters starting October 11.