Emil Wakim

Last updated

Emil Wakim
Born (1998-03-11) March 11, 1998 (age 26)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation(s)Comedian, actor

Emil Wakim (born March 11, 1998) is a Lebanese-American comedian and actor. [1] He is a featured cast member on Saturday Night Live for its 50th season.

Contents

Early life and career

Wakim was born in Chicago on March 11, 1998 to a Lebanese Maronite father and a White American mother. [2] [1] He was raised in Indiana as a Maronite Christian, a non-Arab ethnoreligious group, [3] but despite his father teaching him that it is inaccurate to identify as an Arab Christian, [4] [5] he identifies as such. [5] [6] [1] He moved to Bloomington, Indiana for college and is based in Brooklyn, New York. [7] [8]

Wakim was selected as a New Face of Comedy at the prestigious Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He has opened for comedians such as Roy Wood Jr., Kyle Kinane, Nikki Glaser, Hasan Minhaj and Neal Brennan. [8]

When asked about his experience leading up to his first The Tonight Show appearance in 2022, he stated that, "Doing Fallon was probably the highlight so far, especially for what it meant for me at the time I got it. I was new to New York and desperately needed a credit or something to feel validated and be able to get booked on things." [9]

He was announced in September 2024 as one of three new featured cast members on Saturday Night Live for its 50th season; the others were Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline. [10] [11] Wakim is the show's first Lebanese-American cast member and the third Middle-Eastern cast member after Nasim Pedrad and Aristotle Athari.

Related Research Articles

Saturday Night Live (SNL) is an American late-night live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The show's premiere was hosted by George Carlin on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title NBC's Saturday Night. The show's comedy sketches, which often parody contemporary American culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers the opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, with featured performances by a musical guest. An episode normally begins with a cold open sketch that is usually based on political events and ends with someone breaking character and proclaiming, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!", properly beginning the show.

<i>Saturday Night Live</i> season 29 Season of television series

The twenty-ninth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 4, 2003, and May 15, 2004.

<i>Saturday Night Live</i> season 21 Season of television series

The twenty-first season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 30, 1995, and May 18, 1996.

<i>Saturday Night Live</i> season 20 Season of television series

The twentieth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 24, 1994, and May 13, 1995.

<i>Saturday Night Live</i> season 11 Season of television series

The eleventh season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between November 9, 1985, and May 24, 1986.

The thirty-fourth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 13, 2008, and May 16, 2009.

<i>Saturday Night Live</i> season 38 38th season of the show

The thirty-eighth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 15, 2012, and May 18, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Moffat</span> American actor and comedian

Alexander Everett Moffat is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, where he debuted as a featured player during the show's 42nd season in 2016, alongside Mikey Day and Melissa Villaseñor. After two seasons as featured players, all three became repertory cast members in 2018, beginning with the show's 44th season. Moffat left SNL in 2022, after six years as a cast member. In 2023, he made his Broadway debut in The Cottage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bowen Yang</span> American actor and comedian (born 1990)

Bowen Yang is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, and writer. Yang was hired to join the writing staff of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live in September 2018, ahead of its 44th season, and a year later was promoted to on-air cast status for SNL's 45th season. He made history becoming the first SNL featured player to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 2021. He was promoted to repertory status before the 47th season.

The forty-fifth season of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live premiered on September 28, 2019, during the 2019–20 television season with host Woody Harrelson and musical guest Billie Eilish, and concluded on May 9, 2020 with host Kristen Wiig and musical guest Boyz II Men. This season featured the return of Eddie Murphy as host, on December 21, 2019, for the first time in 35 years. Murphy's episode was the most watched episode since 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chloe Fineman</span> American actress and comedian (born 1988)

Chloe Rose Fineman is an American actress and comedian. She became a featured player on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live starting in its 45th season in September 2019, and was promoted to repertory status in 2021 at the beginning of season 47.

The forty-seventh season of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live premiered on October 2, 2021, during the 2021–22 television season with host Owen Wilson and musical guest Kacey Musgraves, and concluded on May 21, 2022 with host Natasha Lyonne and musical guest Japanese Breakfast. For the first time, the season's first five episodes and the remainder from episode ten onward were live-streamed on the streaming service Peacock in addition to its coast-to-coast live television broadcast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Sherman</span> American comedian and actress

Sarah Nicole Sherman, also known professionally as Sarah Squirm, is an American comedian, actress, and screenwriter. Sherman is known for using surreal and body horror comedy. She became a featured player on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live starting with its 47th season in October 2021, and was promoted to Repertory Status in October 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Austin Johnson</span> American comedian and actor

James Austin Johnson, occasionally known by his initials, JAJ, is an American comedian and actor. Johnson is currently a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy television series Saturday Night Live, which he joined as a featured player for the show's 47th season in 2021. On SNL, he has impersonated both Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Johnson was promoted to a repertory player in 2023.

The forty-ninth season of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live premiered on October 14, 2023, during the 2023–24 television season, with host Pete Davidson and musical guest Ice Spice, and concluded on May 18, 2024 with host Jake Gyllenhaal and musical guest Sabrina Carpenter. The premiere was delayed due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike.

Chloe Eileen Troast is an American comedian and actress. Troast was featured on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live for its 49th season.

The fiftieth season of the American sketch comedy late night television program Saturday Night Live premiered on September 28, 2024 on NBC and Peacock, with host Jean Smart and musical guest Jelly Roll. In addition to the standard episodes hosted by celebrity guests and featuring musical acts, the series will also have several months of acknowledgements, leading to a three-hour celebratory 50th anniversary special retrospective, which is set to air on February 16, 2025.

Jane Wickline is an American comedian and actress. She is a featured cast member on Saturday Night Live for its 50th season.

Ashley Padilla is an American comedian and actress. She is a featured player on Saturday Night Live for its 50th season.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Bedirian, Razmig. "Who is Emil Wakim? Meet the first Lebanese Saturday Night Live cast member". The National. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
  2. ↑ Martin, Clare (September 10, 2024). "SNL Bids Farewell to Chloe Troast, Adds New Cast Members Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim, and Jane Wickline". Paste Magazine. Archived from the original on September 10, 2024. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  3. ↑ Moosa, Matti (1986). The Maronites in History. Syracuse, N.Y., USA: Syracuse University Press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  4. ↑ Kaufman, Asher (2024). "Writing the History of Mount Lebanon: Church Historians and Maronite Identity by Mouannes Hojairi (review)". The Catholic Historical Review. 110 (2): 400–401. ISSN   1534-0708.
  5. 1 2 Saturday Night Live (October 19, 2024). Weekend Update: Emil Wakim on Voting in the 2024 Election - SNL . Retrieved October 23, 2024– via YouTube.
  6. ↑ Oganesyan, Natalie (October 20, 2024). "'SNL's 'Weekend Update' Features Newcomer Emil Wakim Unpacking Young People's Support For Gaza: "Just Stop Bombing Them, They'll Get To Gay"". Deadline. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
  7. ↑ Kugler, Jenny Porter Tilley and Carol. "SNL has new cast members, including Emil Wakim, standup from Bloomington". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  8. 1 2 "Bio". Emil Wakim. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Emil Wakim's Parents Finally Understand His Job Now". Vulture. September 6, 2024. Archived from the original on September 6, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  10. ↑ Gularte, Alejandra; Fox, Jesse David (September 9, 2024). "SNL Adds Three New Cast Members for Season 50". Vulture. Archived from the original on September 10, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  11. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (September 10, 2024). "'SNL' Adds Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim & Jane Wickline To Cast For Season 50, Promotes Trio As Chloe Troast Departs". Deadline. Archived from the original on September 10, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.