‘Saturday Night’ First Look: How the ‘SNL’ Movie Captures 1975’s Wild Opening Night

She answered questions not just from Reitman but also from the actor playing her, as did some of her former castmates. Garrett Morris bonded with Lamorne Morris, who’d actually been claiming to know Garrett since he was a kid. “Obviously we had the same last name, so I used to tell people that he was my dad, as a joke,” says the actor, who’s best known for Fargo and New Girl. Now that they’re friends, the 87-year-old Garrett is running with the gag. “He called me and said something about owing my mom a call because he’s not convinced that he’s not my dad,” Lamorne says. He feels there’s a genuine connection creatively: “Subconsciously, you are picking up cues from those before you. No matter what I do, at some point, it probably came from Flip Wilson, Garrett Morris, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy.”

In the movie, Morris feels adrift and uncertain about this new endeavor. “Obviously, race plays a little bit of a factor in it, especially during those times when folks didn’t necessarily know if this was Lorne just trying to fill a quota,” Lamorne says. Also, Garrett was about a decade older than his costars, so there was a distance there as well. Lamorne notes that his predecessor was a Broadway singer and a playwright, among other talents: “His journey is, ‘Hey man, I got all these skills. I’ve been a part of the Civil Rights Movement. I’ve helped desegregate the acting unions. All of these things have happened to me, and here I am with all these kids telling dick and fart jokes.’ It’s like, ‘What am I doing here?’”