Saturday Night Live just added its first Asian-American cast member

SNL Bowen Yang.
(Image credit: Alex Schaefer/AP)

Live from New York, it's ... long overdue.

Saturday Night Live announced three new cast members Thursday, including Bowen Yang, whose hiring makes history, as NBC News writes he's the show's first full-time East Asian cast member. Yang joined SNL in 2018 as a writer and has appeared on the air, in March playing Kim Jong Un in a sketch, TV Lines notes.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.