Lamorne Morris portrays the great comedian and actor Garrett Morris in the movie “SNL 1975,” which is about the origins of Saturday Night Live.
Key Takeaways
- Lamorne Morris portrays comedy legend Garrett Morris in “SNL 1975,” a film about Saturday Night Live’s origins.
- Despite being unrelated, Lamorne strongly connects with Garrett, having idolized him since childhood.
- Garrett offered Lamorne valuable advice on portraying him, focusing on the experience of being an older Black comedian among younger cast members.
Meant To Play The Role
Although unrelated, Lamorne feels a strong connection with the SNL legend.
In fact, when he was younger, the “New Girl” actor would even pretend that Garrett was his father.
Talking about his connection, he said,
We had very similar struggles in the industry. When I what I mean by that is fitting in having this imposter syndrome of ‘Do I belong here?’ Even though you’re finding success…Garrett had a lot of that going on and when I first got into this business, I did. It wasn’t that I was afraid to be good at what I do or great at what I do. I just was shocked that, you know, when I would go on stage people would laugh…I would hit these steps and people would go, ‘Oh, you should be doing this’ I was like ‘Really? Because this is really hard to do. And I know I’m busting my ass to do it.’
Lamorne Morris
Similarly, in an interview, the actor described the meeting with the legend and how funny he was throughout.
They met on set, and Garrett joked about their having the same last name and about whether Lamorne was his long-lost son.
He is still, till this day, one of the funniest people walking on Earth. He is so good. Just talking to him, the guy made a joke. He just randomly hit me up and said — because we have the same last name — he just randomly hit me up once and said, ‘Hey man, I’m not entirely convinced that I am not your daddy. Tell your mama I owe her a call.
Lamorne Morris
Similarly, the legend gave him some powerful advice on getting into his character and how he shines.
At the American Black Film Festival Honors, Garrett said,
“We talked about it. He has to be a guy who’s dealing with some young people.”
Garrett Morris
When I was inside in that life, I was 39 years old and the rest [of the cast], they had just come out of high school and college. The Black thing is you take longer to do what the younger White people do, and you usually have to do it two or three times as good.
He continued,
“We talked about that, and he already told me he’s going to play it like that — an older Black guy who’s dealing with these younger guys. I said, Wow, man.”
Garrett Morris
The movie’s production has been completed, but the release date has yet to be determined.
A Father Figure
Lamorne may have found a father figure in Garrett since he lost his dad, Ernest Morris, in June 2023.
His dad was a former dr*g dealer who had “since cleaned up his act,” but they weren’t too close.
Expressing the sad news, the actor announced on Instagram with the caption,
This is Ernest Morris. My father. He passed away a few days ago so as you can imagine, this Father’s Day hits a little different. I’m not the most eloquent speaker, I wear makeup and pretend to be other people for a living so I only offer advice for those in estranged relationships. Fix it! There’s nothing but regret down that road and we never know when it’s our time to skedaddle. 1955-2023
Lamorne Morris
Likewise, since he was young, Lamorne idolized Garrett and even considered him his dad. Now that they have finally worked together, it is a dream come true for him.
In Case You Didn’t Know
- Garrett Morris was Saturday Night Live’s first black cast member, appearing from 1975 to 1980.
- Lamorne Morris has a daughter, Lily, who is the love of his life.
- Garrett is currently writing an autobiography, as he says, “I’m working on it now.”
