Live from New York, it's Luke Null!
The 2008 Lakota East High School graduate will be one of three new "featured players" starting Saturday, Sept. 30, when Ryan Gosling hosts the season premiere.
NBC announced the cast additions Tuesday for the 43rd season of "SNL."
The Lakota East High School Facebook page Tuesday night posted: "CONGRATULATIONS to Lakota East grad Luke Null! Added as a cast member for the 43rd season of Emmy-winning Saturday Night Live! Catch the debut this Saturday, September 30!
Null is the first Greater Cincinnati native to be a "SNL" cast member in my 32 years reporting on television. He's likely the first in the 42-year history of the show.
Null has been based in Chicago, where he was a "musical comedian" and did improvisational comedy at iO Chicago (formerly "ImprovOlympic"), an improv theater and training center, according to entertainment news websites. He attended Ohio University, according to NBC affiliate WLWT-TV.
"SNL," which won nine Emmy Awards earlier this month, has replaced three cast members: Bobby Moynihan, Vanessa Bayer and Sasheer Zamata. Joining Null as a featured player are Chris Redd (Netflix's "Disjointed") from St. Louis and Heidi Gardner ("Super Mansion"), a Groundlings alumna from Kansas City.
Deadlinereports that "the hires cap a series of auditions and tests over the past month or so in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, with the final cast selection reportedly being made over Emmy weekend" (Sept. 16-17). Executive producer Lorne Michaels also hired seven new writers.
Jay-Z will be the musical guest for the season premiere Saturday (11:30 p.m., Channel 5, NBC).
