The director explains why Saturday Night’s Nicholas Braun plays two real characters

Comedy from director Jason Reitman Saturday evening (written by Gil Kenan and Reitman) features a stacked ensemble cast including Consequence star Nicholas Braun, who plays not one but two roles in the biographical film. The film illustrates the 90 minutes leading up to the premiere of the award-winning NBC show Saturday Night Live, follows longtime showrunner Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LeBelle) as he prepares a dysfunctional cast and crew to air the first episode of SNL in an origin story filled with non-stop humor and chaos.

In an interview with The WrapReitman explained why Nicholas Braun was chosen for both the role of performance artist Andy Kaufman and the role of the creator of The Muppets, Jim Henson. Reitman said they thought about Braun.immediately” for the role of Henson. Benny Safdie was originally slated for the role of Kaufmanbut was no longer available than his film The smashing machine was given the green light by A24. Read his comments below:

We were constantly thinking about who could replace him [Benny Safdie as Kaufman] … we kept coming back to Nick Braun. At some point we thought, ‘Well, on ‘SNL,’ you can play more than one character. Why didn’t you do that in the movie?”

What it means for Nicholas Braun to play two roles Saturday evening

It’s not unlike a real episode of SNL

Braun, who starred as brawling nephew Greg Hirsch in HBO’s ConsequenceHe plays two meticulous introverted actors Saturday eveningeven opened the film as Henson. It’s no easy task to nail the mannerisms, voice and humor of two different characters, and it wasn’t a responsibility Braun took lightly as he scoured the Internet for videos of Kaufman and Henson, which he could study and imitate (via Vanity Fair.) This is not unlike reality Saturday Night Live, where actors often play numerous different characters over the course of a season, such as the many recurring characters played by Bill Hader and Andy Samberg.

In contrast to the characters of SNLBraun had to imitate real people, which could be done wrong And flatly. Despite the added responsibility, Baun was still thrilled to get two roles. “I get to be more involved and be a bigger part of what this film is – and then also the responsibility of playing two really important, legendary guys,” he said. “I was thrilled. I just felt very honored to be entrusted with them.“So he put on the Foreign Man accent or blonde beard and stepped in front of the flashing red light of the camera.

Our take on two Nicholas Brauns on Saturday evening

The show must go on

Just a few weeks before the cameras started rolling Saturday eveningBraun was asked to play two characters and put a lot of work into portraying not one, but two comedy legends. Similar to the original cast and crew of Saturday Night Livethe cast and crew of Saturday evening faced a creative process full of chaos and last-minute changes. It shows that whether you’re making movies or getting laughs, the show must go on.

Source: The Wrap, Vanity Fair