'SNL' adds first Asian cast member, 2 more for Season 45

Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Saturday Night Live announced the addition of three new cast members on Thursday. The sketch comedy series returns for its 45th season on Saturday, Sept. 28 with Woody Harrelson hosting and musical guest Billie Eilish..

Leslie Jones announced over the summer that she will not return to the show. She spent five years on SNL and has forthcoming movie roles, a standup special and hosting a new Supermarket Sweep reboot.

Chloe Fineman, Shane Gillis and Bowen Yang join this season according to an NBC press release, and a tweet from the show's official account.

Yang will be the show's first Asian cast member. He was a staff writer on SNL's 44th season and co-hosts the Las Culturistas podcast. He also appeared in the film Isn't It Romantic and TV show Broad City.

Fineman is a performer at the comedy troupe The Groundlings and performed at the 2018 Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal as a New Face. She has appeared on episodes of Search Party, Jane the Virgin, Grown-ish and Mozart in the Jungle.

Gillis was a New Face at the 2019 Just for Laughs. He cohosts Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast and appears regularly on The Bonfire on Sirius XM. He has upcoming standup dates through November according to his official website.