Abby Elliott, Latest Cast Member To Leave ‘SNL’

Abby Elliott won’t be returning to Saturday Night Live next season after four years with the popular late-night sketch show.

Though Andy Samberg and Kristen Wiig were expected to leave SNL, Elliott’s departure comes as a bit of a surprise, reports the Huffington Post. Though not quite a household name, Elliott was mostly known on SNL for her celebrity impressions, a la Darrell Hammond. She often impersonated the likes of Angelina Jolie, Khloe Kardashian, Rachel Maddow, Anna Faris and Rosie Pope, to much acclaim.

Elliott joined the cast of SNL in 2008, as a featured player. She was one of the show’s youngest performers to date, joining at just 21-years of age, reports Splitsider. She was also the first-ever second-generation cast member in the show’s long history. Her father, Chris Elliott, was a cast member during the 1994-1995 season, though he is probably best known for his variety of comedic film appearances (Cabin Boy, There’s Something About Mary, Scary Movie 2 and Groundhog Day) as well as playing the board game-obsessed father of Alyson Hannigan’s character, Lily Aldrin.

Abby Elliott also recently co-wrote and starred in the Above Average series The Assistant, co-starred in Matt Walsh’s High Road, and was briefly cast in Ned Fox Is My Manny before dropping out in favor of SNL.

With Wiig and Elliott’s departure, only Nasim Pedrad remains as a featured female cast member, meaning that featured players Vanessa Bayer and Kate McKinnon might be getting a promotion soon as SNL grooms new comedic talent. Also rumored to be leaving the show is comic Jason Sudeikis, though this is unconfirmed.

SNL heads into its 38th season September 15th.