Leslie Jones Promoted To SNL Cast

Leslie Jones is the latest person to go from the Saturday Night Live writing staff to cast member. According to Deadline,  Leslie will officially begin as an SNL featured player this Saturday, when the show is hosted by Jim Carrey.

She’s been making appearances both this season and last season on Weekend Update, talking about relationships and with her controversial piece on Lupita Nyong’o being named People’s Most Beautiful Person, titled “No. 1 Slave Draft Pick”. Before joining the writing staff, Leslie was part of the auditions when executive producer Lorne Michaels set out to find an African-American woman to join the cast. She was one of 12 finalists to audition for the featured player spot that eventually went to Sasheer Zamata. Leslie impressed Michaels so much that she was hired as a writer for the series.

Leslie Jones joins Michael Che as an SNL writer turned cast member. Che wrote for Saturday Night Live last season, before coming back for the 40th anniversary year as the new co-host of Weekend Update with Colin Jost.

In-House Image Expert Leslie Jones’ famous piece on the slave days.

Found on nbc.com