SNL Adds Grace Reiter and Saidah Belo-Osagie as Featured Players for Season 52

Saturday Night Live has found its newest faces. The NBC sketch comedy series announced Wednesday that Grace Reiter and Saidah Belo-Osagie will join as featured players for Season 52, completing the cast ahead of a Sept. 26 premiere hosted by New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson with musical guest Katseye.

According to Variety, this is the final casting announcement of the season, with all remaining Season 51 members returning. The two additions come as the show absorbs the departures of Chloe Fineman and writer-performer Martin Herlihy.

Belo-Osagie is a comedian and filmmaker from Queens. SNL's announcement credited her with writing and directing the short film 'Tinge,' creating an event series called 'Afrobeats Futura,' and staging a solo show, 'Saidah Gets Closure.' She shared the show's Instagram post on her own Story with the words 'A DREAM COME TRUE.'

Reiter, who is from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, co-wrote, directed and stars in the upcoming Netflix series 'Minimum Wage,' about teenagers running a pizzeria. The show is based on a series she released online in 2024 that gained traction on TikTok, according to Netflix.

The two departing cast members leave behind substantial records. Fineman, who joined in 2019 for Season 45, spent seven seasons on the show performing impressions of Drew Barrymore and Britney Spears and appearing in recurring sketches including 'Domingo,' 'Snackhomiez' and 'Forever 31.' She announced her exit on July 16.

It’s really hard to leave SNL but it does feel like the right time.— Chloe Fineman, departing cast member

Deadline reported that Fineman will join the cast of 'Myron Bolitar,' a Netflix drama based on Harlan Coben's thriller novels about a former basketball star who becomes a sports agent.

Herlihy, a writer best known as part of the comedy trio Please Don't Destroy, confirmed his departure to TODAY.com after five seasons. He appeared in dozens of sketches, including 'Blowing It' and 'Lies,' a piece in which he inhabits the life of 'Weekend Update' co-host Colin Jost. Of the three Please Don't Destroy members, John Higgins had already left the show and Ben Marshall was promoted to cast member; Herlihy stayed on through Season 51 before departing.

The scale of this season's turnover is relatively modest. SNL's larger reshufflings tend to come every several years — the 50th season and its anniversary specials were followed by a wave of exits including Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim, Bowen Yang, Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker and Emil Wakim, a generational reset by the show's standards. The addition of two featured players this season, by contrast, represents the kind of incremental fine-tuning that longtime executive producer Lorne Michaels has long favored in quieter years.

Why it matters — The additions of Reiter and Belo-Osagie lock in the full SNL Season 52 lineup, setting the stage for how the show rebuilds its bench after several years of significant cast turnover.

Reported by variety.com, nbcnews.com, hollywoodreporter.com, nytimes.com, ew.com