Comedian Leslie Jones will be leaving the cast of Saturday Night Live prior to the premier of the venerable late night variety show’s 45th season later next month.
Jones had worked on the show for five seasons. Although she first joined SNL as a writer, she almost immediately graduated up to first featured player and then full time cast member.
While Jones did not stand out much in her sketch work, she normally was reserved more as a supporting player than someone who took a lead part, she often shined when she appeared in the Weekend Update segments playing a hyper version of herself against Update co-anchor Colin Jost.
Outside of her work on SNL, Jones has slowly been building up a resume of female appearances in such movies as Amy Schumer’s Trainwreck (2015) and Paul Feig’s 2016 Ghostbusters reboot. She was recently cast in the upcoming Eddie Murphy comedy Coming 2 America, which started filming last week. She also has a Netflix stand up special in the works.
Now is usually the time that the show announces the departures and additions of cast members as it begins to gear up for a new season. This year’s season premier with be on September 28 with guest host Woody Harrelson and musical guest Billie Eillish.
