Nasim Pedrad Headshot - P 2013
Getty ImagesNasim Pedrad is moving from one Lorne Michaels project to another.
The Saturday Night Live star is set to play the female lead in NBC’s John Mulaney comedy pilot, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
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The ensemble comedy was created, written by and stars stand-up comedian Mulaney (a writer on SNL) and is based loosely on his life. Pedrad, who currently ranks as SNL‘s longest-running tenured female cast member after the departure of Kristen Wiig and Abby Elliott, will play Jane, a sweet, intelligent and lazy grade school teacher who doesn’t love her job and wants to make changes, but she’s addicted to procrastinating.
She joins a cast that also includes Martin Short and Elliott Gould in the multi-camera comedy pilot. Mulaney will pen the pilot and executive produce the Universal Television, Broadway Video and 3 Arts entry alongside SNL‘s Michaels, Andrew Singer, Dave Becky and David Miner.
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Should the comedy move to series, Pedrad would leave NBC’s late-night sketch show alongside Mulaney. A Groundlings alum, Pedrad has been with SNL since 2009, contributing impersonations of Christina Aguilera, Lea Michele, Kim Kardashian, Sharon Osbourne, Nicki Minaj and more. Her recurring sketches include Bedelia, Underground Rock Minute co-host Li’l Blaster, Piper of What Up With That and Nancy, one of the musical sisters on The Lawrence Welk Show.
The news comes as long-tenured writer-performer Seth Meyers is being eyed to take over NBC’s Late Night franchise when Jimmy Fallon replaces Jay Leno at The Tonight Show. Timing on the move remains unclear.
Pedrad, whose credits also include The Lorax, The Dictator and episodes of Gilmore Girls, ER and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, is repped by CAA.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit
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