We’re only about six weeks from the debut of Season 52 of Saturday Night Live. While some changes are bound to be announced (new cast members, cast members leaving), the core of the cast is likely to be very much as it was last season.
The season premier of SNL’s 52nd season will be September 26 with an as-yet-undetermined host and musical guest. We’ll bring that news to you when it breaks. But until then, it’s fun to speculate about which cast member may have a breakout this upcoming season.
In Season 51, Ashley Padilla became a superstar in Studio 8H. The former Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) performer delivered many of the best moments in SN51. Her amazing comedic skills earned her the SNL MVP Award, as well as the Phil Hartman Award. That’s unprecedented for a second-year featured player.
Is there someone on the SNL cast who could make a huge leap in the upcoming season similar to what we saw from Padilla in Season 51?
Jeremy Culhane: Mr. On Blast
In the middle of Season 51 we saw a rookie get his footing when Jeremy Culhane debuted his Mr. On Blast character as a Weekend Update segment. The character is sort of a mashup of the dancers from David S. Pumpkins and Drunk Uncle. In a few appearances as Mr. On Blast, Culhane established himself as a confident comedy force on SNL in his first season as a featured player.
Two other moments in Season 51 showed off how brilliant Culhane can be: the first was in the Nikki Glaser episode in a sketch called “Pinwheel.” The next was in the Melissa McCarthy episode where he plays opposite the host in a grocery store sketch titled “Free Sample.”
Culhane, like Padilla, has an extensive background in sketch comedy groups, and it shows in his ability to perform well with others in ensemble segments. But he’s also very good at character work, and we suspect that skill will shine even brighter in Season 52.
Veronika Slowikowska: 21st Century Laraine Newman
We selected Veronika Slowikowska as our recipient of the Kyle J. Mooney Award for Season 51. That honor goes to the cast member who deserved more screen time. Mooney winners are cast members we wish we could see more of. In her rookie season, Slowikowska showed flashes of funny. We simply would have liked more showcases for the Canadian comic.
Skowikowska is a product of the emerging comedy genre: social media performer. Before getting the invite to join SNL, she posted hundreds of short videos on TikTok and other platforms, usually working alone and performing as quirky characters. She has more than a million followers on her social accounts.
In her first year in Studio 8H, Slowikowska showed a fearless performance style. She and Jane Wickline starred in a fantastic sketch in the Harry Styles episode called “White Castle Drive-Thru.” The sketch is unsettling but hilarious, delivering something we have rarely seen on SNL in recent years. Slowikowska and Wickline also collaborated on a pretape called “Cousin Planet” in the McCarthy episode.
In the Finn Wolfhard episode, Slowikowska was the central character in a sketch called “Guys’ Girl,” where the audience got to witness her taking over the stage with her physicality and strong personality.
Which SNL cast member will emerge as a breakout star in Season 52? Let us know in the comments section.
