Saturday night live alum Laraine Newman has opened up about her friendship with co-star Bill Murray.
Even though it had been years since the two had shared SNL onstage, they stayed in touch — mostly via text, with Murray calling whenever he felt a little free.
“When he’s doing something where he’s bored, he texts me,” Newman, 72, who is set to host the 2024 Sentinel Awards for Hollywood, Health & Society on Oct. 24, tells PEOPLE with a smile. “If he’s driving cross-country, we’ll have long text conversations.”
Their exchanges, she reveals, are delightfully random and cover everything from life news to light-hearted banter.
Laraine Newman and Bill Murray on ‘SNL’ along with Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner and Jane Curtain. Marty Lederhandler/AP/Shutterstock Laraine Newman says Lorne Michaels initially thought SNL It would only last ’13 weeks’ (exclusive)
Although Newman speaks warmly of her playful relationship with Murray, she also expresses admiration for electricity SNL the cast and the series’ evolving skits that continue to resonate with audiences.
“I mean, Sarah Sherman on Weekend Update, everything she does is just brilliant,” Newman says. “And Bowen Yang, I love him so much, especially when he made the iceberg off the Titanic.”
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Bowen Yang (left) and Sarah Sherman.
Will Heath/NBC/NBCU/Getty (2)
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Newman also remembers her late friend and loved one SNL colleague Gilda Radner, recalling an unforgettable event during the preparation for SNL live performance in New Orleans.
“They forgot us for four hours in a part of the city we didn’t know. It was Gilda and I, just stuck there,” he recalls with a laugh. – I just really loved Gilda.
Another late friend of Newman’s is John Belushi, and she reveals her thoughts on what he and Radner might be up to SNLis a lasting legacy.
“Well, I think they’d be amazed,” Newman says thoughtfully. “It’s hard to know if they would be excited about the evolution of the tone of comedy, but I think they would be. Both Gilda and John had a very progressive view of the world as well as comedy.”
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From left: John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, Dan Aykroyd and Gilda Radner on ‘SNL’ in 1976.
NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
He adds that Radner and Belushi would probably be inspired by it SNL it has grown over the years, although its basic format has remained largely the same.
“In format, that hasn’t changed,” Newman explains. “The behind-the-scenes function of presenting to a host, assigning sketches, writing a full-length, and preparing for a live show — it’s all the same.”
However, she admits that technological advances in the manufacturing process would be new territory for her late friends. “They have technology that we didn’t have,” she says, reflecting on the series’ progression.
Despite the changes, Newman thinks Radner and Belushi would be proud SNLa continuing influence on comedy. “I think they would be really inspired by how the show has grown and changed over the years,” she says.
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Saturday night live airs Saturdays at 11:30 PM ET on NBC.
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Source: HIS Education