Gardner joined the show as a featured player in 2017 and became a main cast member in 2019, making her the longest-running woman in the current cast. Wakim joined the show last year as a featured player and called his exit a “gut punch.”

SNL’s new season is making headlines with cast updates. See who’s back for season 51 and which fan-favorites are leaving the iconic show

For her feature directing debut, “Eleanor the Great,” Scarlett Johansson needed to tackle a character far removed from the roles she has played as an actress: an elderly woman who assumes the backstory of a Holocaust survivor.

After Lorne Michaels teased his plans to change the “Saturday Night Live” lineup for Season 51, it’s been confirmed that new comics are joining the show while several cast members, including Ego Nwodim and Heidi Gardner, will not be returning.