As a dedicated fan of comedy and the legendary Saturday Night Live (SNL), I can’t help but marvel at the meticulous efforts Jason Reitman has put into his new film, Saturday Night. With a rich background growing up with Ivan Reitman, a director who worked closely with multiple SNL alums, it seems only fitting that he would go to great lengths to ensure every detail of the iconic show’s debut is as authentic as possible.
Apart from the privilege of having Ivan Reitman as his father, who was a filmmaker known for collaborating with numerous Saturday Night Live veterans, director Jason Reitman was meticulous about getting every aspect of the original Saturday Night Live’s premiere right in his new movie, titled Saturday Night. In an interview with Vanity Fair that includes exclusive images from the film, Reitman revealed that he and co-writer Gil Kenan consulted with surviving cast and crew members extensively to ensure the accuracy of their script for this film, which chronicles the 90 minutes before the first SNL broadcast in 1975.
The filmmaker mentioned, “We spoke to everyone who was still alive from the premiere night. This included all surviving cast members, scriptwriters, people from art and costume departments, hair and makeup teams, NBC staff, even Billy Preston’s bandmates – essentially, anyone we could locate.”
The cast from the early days of SNL shared lesser-known stories about the show’s history. For instance, Laraine Newman revealed that during one episode, guest host George Carlin (portrayed by Matthew Rhys) disliked a sketch involving Alexander the Great’s high school reunion. This particular disagreement ended up being included in the final production of the show.
Director Reitman chose Gabriel LaBelle, star of “The Fabelmans,” to play Lorne Michaels, creator of Saturday Night Live. During the film’s production, Reitman consulted with Michaels for accuracy, but discouraged LaBelle from talking directly to him before taking on the role. To ready himself for this part, LaBelle drew upon a statement made by Bill Murray about Michaels that he had heard previously.
According to LaBelle, everyone views Michaels as a fearless leader and skilled captain navigating through the fog. Bill Murray, upon returning to host the show decades after departing, expressed his admiration to Lorne, saying “You really cracked the code on this.” This observation, in LaBell’s view, demonstrates that Michaels didn’t have everything figured out from the beginning. LaBelle points out that Michaels started at 30 and has been doing it for 50 years now. He notes that nobody knows what to do when they first start out.
When the actor finally crossed paths with Michaels on set, he discovered that “there was no need for any questions from me. No need to attempt to understand or figure him out.”
On a particular Saturday evening, an actor from the show found favor by developing a connection with the real-life character he was depicting. Lamorne Morris, who often joked about Garrett Morris being his father during his youth, even though they aren’t blood relatives, experienced this. “Since we shared the same last name,” he explained humorously, “I would tell people he was my dad as a joke.” The two have since formed a friendship, with Garrett joining in on the jest. As a former cast member of ‘New Girl’, Lamorne once quipped that Garrett had called him, suggesting he owed his mother a call because he wasn’t fully convinced they weren’t father and son.
Lamorne was intrigued by understanding Garrett’s role within Saturday Night Live, given that he was a decade senior to his co-stars and had extensive experience beyond comedy, not just as a playwright but also as a Broadway singer. He remarked that Garrett felt out of place amidst the younger cast members who often told crude jokes, saying, “He’s thinking, ‘I’ve been part of the Civil Rights Movement, I’ve contributed to union desegregation, and here I am surrounded by all these experiences. I’ve got so many skills, yet I’m telling dirty jokes.’ It’s like he’s questioning, ‘What on earth am I doing here?'”
Eventually, it became clear to Garrett that he could utilize all his skills on the show, dedicating five years to SNL. “He eventually realized, ‘Wait a minute. There are many things I can do, and I believe this is the stage where I can use them all,'” Lamorne explained.
In his Saturday Night performance, the actor remembered Garrett asking him to narrate the story truthfully and authentically: “Share the tale exactly as it unfolded. Be candid about it. I simply want the spectators to understand that I didn’t abandon the role. I never surrendered.”
Saturday Night hits theaters on Oct. 11.
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2024-08-07 21:25