'Saturday Night Live' announces four new cast members after mass exodus

Days after "Saturday Night Live" extended its Emmy-winning streak with its latest variety sketch series prize on Monday, the long-running sketch comedy show has revealed new cast members who will join the venerable comedy institution for its 48th season.

These new cast members are Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker.

Earlier this month, it was revealed that Melissa Villaseñor, Aristotle Athari and Alex Moffat would not be returning to "SNL." The report followed the news broken prior to "SNL's" 47th season finale that longtime cast members Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson and Kyle Mooney were departing the show.

Hernandez hails from Miami. In July, he was selected as the Just for Laughs New Face of Comedy.

Kearney has appeared in Prime Video's "A League of Their Own" and Disney+’s "The Mighty Ducks." They were also selected for Comedy Central's "Up Next" showcase in 2019.

From Phoenix, Longfellow comes to "Saturday Night Live" after having been featured in Netflix Is a Joke’s "Introducing..." and NBC's "Bring the Funny." He was one of TBS' "Comics to Watch" for its 2017 New York Comedy Festival.

Walker, who hails from Austin, Texas, has written for Freeform's "Everything's Trash" and Netflix's "Big Mouth." In 2017, he was selected for Comedy Central’s “Up Next” showcase.

"Saturday Night Live" executive producer Lorne Michaels teased the announcement of new cast members backstage at the Emmys pressroom Monday night. He addressed the mass exodus, implying that the pandemic played a role.

"I think the pandemic interfered with the natural order of things," he said. "I think people might have left earlier but there was nowhere to go."

Michaels also acknowledged that the upcoming season will be "a transition year."

"Exchange years are always difficult, but also very exciting," he said.

"Saturday Night Live" returns Oct. 1 on NBC.

Times staff writer Ashley Lee contributed to this report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.