Although most Saturday Night Live casting changes take place over summer hiatus, the venerable comedy program has already opted to shake things up.
A mere three episodes into season 40, producer Lorne Michaels has bumped up Leslie Jones from the writing staff to full-on cast member.
The L.A.-based comedian joined SNL’s writing team partway through last season, not long after the show received criticism for a perceived lack of African American representation. She was hired alongside Michael Che (who also made the jump from writer to performer) and Sasheer Zamata.
Prior to her time on SNL, Leslie was featured at Montreal’s Just for Laughs, and released a one-hour comedy special, Problem Child, on Showtime.
Leslie took to Twitter on Monday to officially announce the news. And understandably, she was more than a little excited.
It’s official I’m a cast member!!! Get ready! Get ready!! @nbcsnl
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) October 20, 2014
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