Saturday Night, the Jason Reitman-directed SNL biopic, is hitting theaters this weekend and getting great reviews for its cast. It tells the story of October 11, 1975, the first night that Saturday Night Live – then titled Saturday Night – aired. Now, it’s taken for granted that SNL seemingly always has been and always will be around, especially to anyone born in the ’70s and later. But there was no guarantee of its success.

On the night it debuted, however, Saturday Night was subversive, unproven, and destined to fail. As Cooper Hoffman’s Dick Ebersol says in the first trailer, “We’re 90 minutes of live television by a group of 20-year-olds who have never made anything! Do you ever wonder why they said yes? A counterculture show starring total unknowns with zero narrative and even less structure! They want [us] to fail.” In an era rife with sitcoms and a few scripted dramas and action shows like Dallas, M.A.S.H., and The Dukes of Hazzard, NBC execs thought there was no way audiences would understand it.

When it was first announced that Jason Reitman was doing a Saturday Night Live movie, people were also skeptical: how on earth would they properly cast actors to portray such towering legends in entertainment and comedy? As it turns out, just like back then, we need not have worried. The cast is stacked with talent, and while a few names are known, most, like the original Saturday Night, are unknowns and up-and-comers, who are being praised for capturing the spirit of the people they portray. Scroll on to see side-by-side comparisons of the actors in the movie and the real people they portray.

Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels

Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase

Rachel Sennot as Rosie Shuster

Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner

Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd

Emily Fairn as Laraine Newman

Matt Wood as John Belushi

Kim Matula as Jane Curtin

Matthew Rhys as George Carlin

Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris

Nicholas Braun as Andy Kaufman

Nicholas Braun as Jim Henson

Cooper Hoffman as Dick Ebersol

Willem Dafoe as David Tebet

JK Simmons as Milton Berle

It’s been said that a great impression isn’t necessarily about looking exactly like the person one is portraying, but in capturing their trademark tics and a few of their mannerisms and making them stick. Considering how well they nailed the casting, it’s no surprise Saturday Night is getting such great reviews.

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