Last Night On
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With Bill Hader’s Oscar buzz, a look at SNL alumni nominated for Academy Awards

By Matt Moore

LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 17: (EDITORS NOTE: Retransmission with alternate crop.) Bill Hader accepts the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series award for 'Barry' onstage during the 70th Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on September 17, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 17: (EDITORS NOTE: Retransmission with alternate crop.) Bill Hader accepts the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series award for 'Barry' onstage during the 70th Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on September 17, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) /
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Bill Hader is being praised for his work in It: Chapter Two and could join these other Saturday Night Live alumni nominated for an Oscar.

“Oscar buzz” is a cliche that gets thrown around quite often when a new movie is about to be released. Usually it is deserved and other times it can be used to build hype around the movie or a performance. Early reviews of It: Chapter 2 suggest that Bill Hader is deserving of “Oscar buzz.”

Hader was no stranger to award nominations during his tenure on Saturday Night Live. He never took home any trophies for his work on the sketch show. However, his luck has certainly changed with his HBO series Barry. Hader won the 2018 Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and is up for the same award in 2019.

But it is Hader’s film work that is now earning him more praise. The first reviews for It: Chapter 2 have singled out Hader’s performance, going as far as to call it “Oscar worthy.” Considering the movie also stars talent like James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain, that is quite the statement.

Hader has earned a lot of fans through Barry, Documentary Now!, and his film roles. But it will always be Saturday Night Live that Hader will be associated with the most. However, an Academy Award nomination or win will go a long way to showing just how unique a talent Hader has become.

With that being said, Last Night On presents some other Saturday Night Live alumni who have received attention from the Academy Awards. Comedy films rarely get attention at the Oscars so it is not all that often that an SNL performer gets the spotlight for an expected role. Instead, it is when he or she “branches out” to a drama that can end up with a nomination.

Dan Aykroyd

Nominated for: Best Supporting Actor in Driving Miss Daisy (1989

Saturday Night Live career: 1975-1979

Bill Murray

Nominated for: Best Actor in Lost in Translation (2003)

Saturday Night Live career: 1977-1980

Eddie Murphy

Nominated for: Best Supporting Actor in Dream Girls (2006)

Saturday Night Live career: 1980-1984

Joan Cusack

Nominated for: Best Supporting Actress in Working Girl (1988) and In & Out (1997)

Saturday Night Live career: 1985-1986

Robert Downey, Jr.

Nominated for: Best Actor in Chaplin (1992), Best Supporting Actor in Tropic Thunder (2008)

Saturday Night Live career: 1985-1986

Kristen Wiig

Nominated for: Best Original Screenplay for Bridesmaids (2011)

Saturday Night Live career: 2005-2012

light. Related Story. Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig are masters of the reaction shot on SNL

Bill Hader would join some pretty good company if he is indeed nominated for an Academy Awards. Fans will have to wait and see. It: Chapter 2 hits theaters on Sept. 6.

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