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Dylan O’Brien, Rachel Sennott and Gabrielle LaBelle speak to ‘Extra’s’ Adam Weissler about the new ‘SNL’ biopic ‘Saturday Night,’ which chronicles the tense behind-the-scenes turmoil before its 1975 premiere. spoke.
O’Brien talked about how he researched Dan Aykroyd, and revealed that director Jason Reitman was also adamant that he shouldn’t do an Impressionist film lightly.
He explained: “I spent a lot of time watching young Aykroyd’s work, and I wasn’t very familiar with it, but I really wanted to make him my own. That was kind of what Jason wanted. He was really keen that we didn’t over-prepare when it came to impersonation, and that when it came to interpreting characters, we wanted to take our own instincts and run with them and trust him. ”
Rachel had the pleasure of speaking with the real-life Rosie Shuster, an early SNL writer, to discuss what she brought to the character.
“I got to talk to Rosie and it was amazing… just talking to her was so amazing. Hearing her voice, hearing her laugh, and this is what Jason said in the script. That’s how I knew I had done a great job.” …She used phrases and words and things like that from the script, and I thought, “Oh, that’s cool.” So I feel like I took her energy, her cool, funny, smart energy, her ability to roll with the punches and all that, and tried to put that into the character. ”
Reflecting on the rebellious spirit of the original SNL cast, Gabriel said: They really felt a part of it, but I don’t know if it can be compared to anything today. ”
Plus, Jason shared a funny story from the set when he surprised Dan Aykroyd over FaceTime.
Lovell said, “Rachel and I were about to shoot a scene and Jason walked in with his cell phone…and he was like, ‘Hey, it’s Aykroyd,’ and right before we shot the scene, Dan… I put Aykroyd on speakerphone.”
He recalled Dan giving them words of encouragement. “He was like, ‘Hey, yeah. How are you doing? Look, this is, oh, everyone wants to see this. It’s going to be really good for your career.’
Rachel described it as a “pep talk” and said the comedian also told her to “relax and don’t stress.”
Dylan asked, “So what did he say when you guys tried to dress me up?”
“He said, ‘Hang up, I don’t want to talk to Dylan. It’s okay,'” Sennott joked.
“He said, ‘I don’t want to talk to Wolf Boy,'” Gabriel chimed in, nodding to Dylan’s “Teen Wolf” past. Dylan replied with a deadpan expression, “It’s okay. I’ll be with you the whole time.”
“Saturday Night” will be released on October 11th.
