“Saturday Night,” the film, envisions the whirl of chaos that took hold in the 90 minutes before “NBC’s Saturday Night,” the show, premiered nearly 50 years ago. Later to be called “Saturday Night Live,” the series debuted in October 1975, and TV audiences hadn’t seen anything like it, nor did they know the cast that would soon become iconic.
The film’s director and co-writer, Jason Reitman, told his assembled actors not to give impersonations but rather to focus on the spirit of the people they were playing. They do a remarkable job creating impressions without falling into mimicry. Here’s how they developed their characters and their ensemble.
The essence
Kim Matula (as Jane Curtin): I knew that Jane was the straight man, and I wanted to make sure that that came through at certain moments. And I knew that her cadence was really interesting, when she’s delivering certain lines when she’s in character. But other than that, I really took Jason’s words to heart. He said, “You already know how to do this.”
Cory Michael Smith (as Chevy Chase): I spent probably two months watching only Chevy Chase material. It was psychotic and compulsive, but eventually I started recognizing patterns in his voice and the kind of tics and bits he was doing, and then embodying them.
Ella Hunt (as Gilda Radner), via email: I really focused on her empathy. Gilda had a tremendous ability to make people feel at ease in a space, and she used every element of her being, from humor to childlike wonder to flirtation, to do that.
Emily Fairn (as Laraine Newman,) via email: Laraine was one of the youngest cast members, she was the only one from the West Coast, and I think really felt out of her depth. Being from Liverpool, this being my first job in America, and being less experienced than the rest of the cast really helped me have empathy for Laraine and allowed me to put myself in her shoes.
Dylan O’Brien (as Dan Aykroyd), via email: I sort of embraced the differences I felt between me and Dan rather than fight them. I realized I couldn’t really do a spot-on impression of him anyway, so the math turned out that if I impersonated him, it would be just enough of a capture without being a total caricature; a reliance on average talent and a pre-mortem to free my neurosis up turned out to be my formula.
Talking, walking
Matt Wood (as John Belushi): John, as a performer, made a massive impact on me from a young age. I still went back and watched every piece of recorded footage that we have of John, trying to get down his gait, his body language, how he responds physically and verbally. Truth be told, our voices are kind of similar; he described himself as a Midwest heavy metal hippie.
Lamorne Morris (as Garrett Morris), via email: I like to believe that I am a natural mimic; I love doing people’s voices, if it’s in my wheelhouse. Vocally, Garrett and I have similar tones, so by studying his old interviews and shows I was able to get in range.
Smith: Chevy’s a bit taller than I am. I had heeled boots with lifts so that I felt tall and towering, so when I first walk in, those legs feel long as I’m swaggering, and that topple and fall feels pretty far down to the ground. That was a helpful way to start for sure.
By all appearances
Hunt: There’s something about the combo of Gilda’s voice, her physicality and her hair that feels like a holy trifecta of comedy to me; so the first time Janine Rath-Thompson (hair department head) put the Gilda wig on me, I was so relieved and delighted that I physically gripped her hands and looked up at her in crazy glee, and then I think I cried!
Matula: Costume designer Danny Glicker did such an incredible job. Putting on that bee costume for the first time, I couldn’t help but dance.
Wood: I do have a similar facial structure to John, but he had a small puckery cute mouth. My personal makeup person, Kaylee Kehne-Swisher, was fantastic; we spent a lot of time working on the lips. With that smaller mouth, it made me pay attention to his lips, how I can use that to show disgust or vulnerability.
Gabriel LaBelle (as Lorne Michaels), via email: From the bell-bottoms, sweater vest, chemically straightened receding mullet, sleep-deprived under-eyes, a negative 17 pounds and a sweaty forehead, I could look into the mirror and not feel like myself.
The atmosphere
Fairn: Jason had this great idea to have a “Cast Camp,” which was ’70s-themed, and when we were off camera we would play board games, table tennis and watch ’70s shows! It was so immersive and really helped us all get close.
Morris: We had no trailers. We were forced to be around each other — and luckily we all loved each other. We did everything together. Grocery store runs, going to the movies, karaoke.
O’Brien: Jason and our casting director, John Papsidera, did a fantastic job of not only casting the show but casting the environment; it’s just as, if not more, important to have a good group of humans first and foremost.
LaBelle: Everyone had each other’s backs. We were all in it together. It was summer camp. It was heaven.
