like Saturday Night Live Approaching its 50th anniversary, what better way to celebrate the legendary pop culture phenomenon than with a movie dramatization of the night the first episode aired? Saturday night is directed by Jason Reitman and co-written by him and his Game Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Associate Gil Kenn. There’s a sense of the legacy resting on his shoulders here, as his father Ivan directed many of the SNL cast members in other works — and Reitman himself guest wrote for the program shortly after the success of his 2007 hit movie Juno.
Saturday night Plays as a race against the clock, detailing the last 90 minutes before the words “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!” were aired on NBC for the first time. Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) and his merry band of stand-up comedians scramble to get the pieces in place before 11:30 in the face of insurmountable obstacles that fateful night in 1975. Several Saturday night Icons such as Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, Andy Kaufman and John Belushi.
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Screen Rant Reitman interviewed about the importance of inclusion Saturday nightWhat was part of the movie from day one, and what Will Ferrell is The SNL cast member in his estimation.
Jason Reitman explains his brick and mortar approach to Saturday Night’s Building Blocks
“The idea was to find actors who could really capture that one piece of essence that was required for the movie.”
Screen Rant: Your movie took me back in time, I get to see all the moments of history and legend cobbling together so beautifully. Was there a sequence or a dynamic that, even before you started your investigative journalism at SNL, you knew you had to be in the movie?
Jason Reitman: The Bricks. I heard the detail about them laying down the bricks of home base the weekend of the show, and I just thought that was crazy. Why are they laying bricks? Why do they do it so last second? I just suddenly had this image of the cast and crew coming together to set down home base, and it felt like, “Oh, this is what the movie is going to be about.”
Screen Rant: You direct this huge ensemble cast, and almost everyone plays a known entity who is or was a real live person. How do you keep it from being an impersonation and instead make it an homage that lives in the moment?
Jason Reitman: You’re right. It was the most daunting casting job I’ve ever had. And we’re talking about Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Jim Henson, Billy Crystal… The idea was to find actors who could really capture that one piece of essence that was required for the movie.
Gilde Radner is the fairy dust. She is the one who comes in and she will sacrifice anything about you to make you feel better. Chevy Chase is the comedian who was touched by God and he knows it, and he is an ego that needs to be humble. Garrett Morris is trying to figure out what his identity is on the show. Who is he and why does he feel like a publisher? And each of the actors was able to be brilliantly funny and understand that one core piece of their character.
Whether it’s Lonely Island or Will Ferrell, SNL is a part of all of our lives
“Such heartwarming memories are formed watching Saturday Night Live growing up.”
Screen Rant: Lonely Island is what I think of when I think of Saturday Night Live. what do you mean
Jason Reitman: I mean, it really shifted for me. The big one was Will Ferrell, because I got to see Will Ferrell at The Groundlings in LA in a 99-seat theater before he ever went to SNL. So for me, I feel like I was a freshman in high school and he was the senior that turned pro.
Saturday Night Live is part of all our childhoods. Each person has his own way. You might think it’s the actor Adam Sandler. It is the Christian cradle cast. It’s the Belushi cast. And for me, it’s exactly the same thing. Such heartwarming memories were formed while watching Saturday Night Live growing up. I’m a comedy nerd, and it kind of defines what’s funny, decade by decade.
More About Saturday Night (2024)
On October 11, 1975, at 11:30 in the afternoon, a terrific group of young comedians and writers changed television – and culture – forever. Directed by Jason Reitman and written by Gil Kenan & Reitman, Saturday Night is based on the true story of what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live. Full of humor, chaos and the magic of a revolution that almost didn’t happen, we count down the minutes in real time until we hear the famous words…
Check out our others Saturday night Interview here:
Source: Screen Rant Plus