Kearney shared the news of their historic casting on their Instagram account Thursday night, posting, “Head is exploding!! Thanks for all the love everyone.”
Considered a rising star, Kearney is best known for his role as Fern Dannely in the Amazon Prime series “A League of Their Own.” In addition to their acting, Los Angeles-based Kearney has traveled the country as a stand-up comedian and helps produce a monthly outdoor stand-up show, “The Big One.”
It was also revealed that Marcello Hernandez, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker would be joining the show, which will air on October 1.
“SNL” has a long but patchy history of LGBTQ cast members. Terry Sweeney and Danitra Vance both made history in 1985, with Sweeney as the show’s first gay cast member, and Vance as the first lesbian cast member, although she wasn’t. exit. at the time, reports the lawyer, both left after one season.
Another queer person wouldn’t join the cast until 2012, when Kate McKinnon became the first woman on the show to do so. The show has never had anyone transgender as a whole, and as recently as 2021 has been accused by viewers of spreading “homophobic” and “transphobic” jokes.
Kearney joins the cast at a time of major transition. Seven members of the award-winning ensemble have said they won’t be returning for the show’s next season, including some of its highest-profile names.
McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Kyle Mooney and Pete Davidson bid farewell to the show in May during the season finale. In September, three more cast members said they would not be returning: Melissa Villaseñor, the series’ first Latin actress, Alex Moffat, and Aristotle Athari, the first Middle Eastern man to join the sketch set.
Longtime “SNL” producer Lindsay Shookus also announced that she will be leaving the show in August.
Earlier this week, “SNL” creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels told reporters backstage at the 74th Emmy Awards that Season 48 “will be a year of transition, and years of change are always difficult.”
Michaels, 77, suggested the covid pandemic may have contributed to some of the cast’s departures – “I think people may have left earlier, but there was nowhere to go. “
But, he added, it’s an “exciting” time for the show, which has enjoyed high ratings and critical acclaim in recent years. According to The Hollywood Reporter, its 2020-2021 season was the most-watched entertainment program on television for adults ages 18-49. On Monday, “SNL” won its sixth consecutive Emmy for Outstanding Variety Series.
“There are new people, and things change, and a different generation comes to the show,” Michaels said.
