‘SNL’ New Season Cast News: Saturday Night Live Hires Leslie Jones
NBC's "Saturday Night Live" has chosen to promote from within and hire their very own writer, Leslie Jones as a new cast member on the show, Deadline reports.
Leslie-who has been a writer on "SNL" since early 2014- will make her debut as an official "SNL" cast member on this Saturday's , Oct. 25 episode with celebrity guest host, Jim Carrey.
Prior to becoming an "SNL" writer, Jones originally tried out to be an "SNL" cast member, Deadline reports.
She became a serious contender among the 12 finalists vying for a cast member spot, but the role ultimately went to current "SNL" cast member, Sasheer Zamata.
Despite not making it on the "SNL" cast list, Jones was still hired by NBC as an "SNL" writer.
During her few short months of writing-and few appearances-on the show, Jones was eventually hired as a cast member, Deadline explains.
Following the news of her promotion, Jones took to Twitter to announce her new "SNL" gig to her 15,000 fans.
Check out her tweet below.
It's official I'm a cast member!!! Get ready! Get ready!! @nbcsnl
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) October 20, 2014
In addition to being a writer and comedienne, Jones is also an accomplished basketball player and actress, Us Weekly reports.
Jones played basketball on scholarship for Chapman University in Orange, California, she writes on her website.
She adds, " I played basketball to please my dad," she wrote on her website. "I also got free shoes and could miss class."
Jones later went on to appear in the films, "Wrongfully Accused," "National Security," and "Lottery Ticket," says Us Weekly. Jones will also star in the upcoming Chris Rock directed film, "Top Five" which hits theaters on Dec. 12.
Jones isn't the only "SNL" writer that was promoted to cast member this year. In September, "SNL" writer Michael Che was announced as the show's newest "Weekend Update" co-anchor.
At the time of "SNL's" Che promotion, executive producer Lorne Michaels told the New York Times, ""Michael is a strong writer, and he's really funny. It's always difficult to make changes and make 'Update' different from what's gone before."
He continued, "This is about a new era, what feels appropriate for now. That's why we did a lot of combinations and tests, and this is kind of where we came out."
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