Heavy/Getty "Saturday Night Live" set
Fresh off her latest Hallmark Christmas movie, actress Kim Matula’s 2024 has begun with potentially the biggest role of her life: co-starring in the upcoming “SNL 1975” feature film about the launch of “Saturday Night Live” in which she’ll portray comedy legend Jane Curtin.
Fans and friends rushed to congratulate Matula on social media after Deadline broke the news on January 26, 2024 that she has joined the cast along with Ella Hunt, who will play Gilda Radner, and Emily Fairn, who was cast as Laraine Newman. The movie is based on behind-the-scenes accounts from the opening night of “Saturday Night Live” on October 11, 1975.
Matula posted a screenshot of the article on Instagram and wrote, “It is with an abundance of elation and gratitude that I share this ✨✨✨”
Here’s what you need to know:
Hallmark Stars Cheer On Kim Matula in Her New Role
Matula, Hunt and Fairn will play the first three females ever cast on “Saturday Night Live,” who all became comedy legends along with fellow cast members Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Garrett Morris, and John Belushi.
Matula, 35, was inundated with congratulatory messages when she shared the news on Instagram.
Her co-star in Hallmark’s “Ghosts of Christmas Always,” Ian Harding, wrote, “HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL YES. 👏🔥👏👏🔥👏🔥”
Melissa Peterman of Hallmark’s “Haul Out the Holly” wrote, “Yes!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️”
Fellow Hallmark star Michael Rady excitedly chimed in with “Fu** yes!”
Former Hallmark actress Jen Lilley commented, “Oh my gosh!!!! congrats!!!!!”
In addition to Matula, Hunt and Fairn being named to the cast on January 26, Deadline revealed a week prior that “The Fabelmans” star Gabriel LaBelle is set to play “SNL” creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels. Meanwhile, actress Rachel Sennett will play Michaels’ wife Rosie Shuster and Cooper Hoffman will portray media executive Dick Ebersol. It’s not known yet who will play the male cast members or comedian George Carlin, who was the show’s first guest host.
The Sony Pictures project was first announced by Deadline in May 2023. The outlet described the project as “the true story of what happened that night behind the scenes in the moments leading up to the first ‘SNL’ broadcast, retelling chaos and magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, counting down the minutes in real time to the infamous words, ‘Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!'”
Jason Reitman, who will direct the film, co-wrote the original screenplay for “SNL 1975” with Gil Kenan, according to Deadline. The duo conducted extensive interviews with all the living cast members, writers and crew who were part of the historic debut of “Saturday Night Live.”
Kim Matula Says Comedy is Her ‘First Love’
Heavy/GettyKim Matula in 2022 and Jane Curtin in a 1979 “SNL” press photo
In “SNL 1975,” Matula will play Curtin, who was “SNL’s” first female anchor of “Weekend Update” and originated the role of Prymaat Conehead in The Conehead sketches, per People.
It’s a plum role for Matula, who rose to fame on the soap opera “Bold & the Beautiful” from 2010 to 2016, per IMDb, but gravitates to roles that make people laugh, including the 2018 FOX series “LA to Vegas” and the Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson feature film “Fighting With My Family.”
In fact, Matula’s first Hallmark movie — 2022’s “Ghosts of Christmas Always” — appealed to her because she loved its comedic twists.
“I read the script, and the thing that stuck out to me most is that it was funny,” she told Showbiz CheatSheet at the time. “And I love comedy. Comedy is my first love. So getting to do something that had a little bit of comedy in a Hallmark movie, I really wasn’t expecting to see that.”
“SNL 1975” doesn’t yet have a release date, but it will likely coincide with the show’s 50th anniversary in 2025.