Saturday Night Live’s Aidy Bryant cast in Hulu series Shrill

Aidy Bryant will play the lead role in Hulu’s original series Shrill based on a popular memoir.

Saturday Night Live has been a launching pad for countless comedic actors and actresses who go on to do sitcoms and movies. Typically the television shows come once a cast member has left. Thankfully that doesn’t sound like the case for Aidy Bryant who will be pulling double duty after landing the lead in Shrill.

Shrill is based on the memoir “Shrill: Notes From a Loud Woman” by Lindy West published in 2016. The book takes a humorous and feminist look at issues such as gender politics, body image, and loss.

In the television adaptation, Bryant plays a young journalist working to balance her career with her love life and relationship with her mother. The show will also make a point of how Bryant’s character has no interest in losing weight or changing her image to what’s expected.

Playing Bryant’s mother will be played by Saturday Night Live alum Julia Sweeney. Other names in the cast include Lolly Adefope, Ian Owns, and Luka James.

The show will be written by West, Bryant, and Ali Rushfield. Saturday Night Live creator and producer Lorne Michaels will produce along with Elizabeth Banks.

As with a lot of shows that start on streaming services like Hulu, Netflix, or Amazon, Shrill will look to differentiate itself and showcase characters not typically seen on television. Bryant had this to say to Buzzfeed:

"I think a lot of times fat female characters are really cutesy and not always fully rounded sexual beings or their sexuality isn’t treated with any dignity. I think we’re realizing the more diverse television can be the better it is to get different perspectives."

Fans of Saturday Night Live can’t be surprised that Bryant is leading a television series. But they will be happy to know that the series already filmed and took Bryant’s SNL schedule into account. She’s been on the show since 2012 and has improved with each season.

Shrill comes to Hulul on March 15, 2019. You can see the first pictures from the series  featuring Aidy Bryant courtesy of Buzzfeed. Saturday Night Live returns to NBC with an all new episode on Dec. 15 with host Matt Damon.