Anthony Michael Hall Talks Being the Youngest SNL Cast Member Ever
The Reacher actor also shared some photos from the SNL50 celebrations.
In 1985 Anthony Michael Hall went from Sixteen Candles to Saturday Night Live when, at 17, he became the series' youngest cast member — a record he still holds 40 years later.
The Reacher actor reflected on what it was like joining the cast after he'd acted in major 1980s movie hits like The Breakfast Club and Weird Science during his March 14 Tonight Show appearance.
"40 years ago, wow," Hall said while taking in a 1986 photo withh fellow members including Randy Quaid, Robert Downey Jr., and Joan Cusack. "Thank you Lorne!" Check out our full Season 11 cast explainer here.
Anthony Michael Hall was a 17-year-old SNL cast member in Season 11
When asked what it was like doing SNL, Hall lovingly recalled that "it's everything. It's rock and roll, it's theater, everything rolled into one, man. You just have such a great time doing it, you know?"
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In 1985, SNL original producer Lorne Michael returned to the show after five years away, and he hired a whole new cast featuring four Hollywood actors, including Hall. Season 11 was recently revisited in the "Weird Year" episode of Peacock's docuseries, Beyond Saturday Night, with the fourth and final episode dedicated to the "strange, yet pivotal" era.
Hall was 17 when he joined the cast of SNL — but he had already grown up watching the show, which made standing up on the SNL stage even more surreal for the young actor.
"Because I was at home a year or two before that watching Eddie [Murphy], I was always a huge Eddie fan," said The Breakfast Club star. "Even in the '70s I would watch the show. I'd have to stay up late, I asked my mom if I could stay up and watch it."
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Hall was one of the many cast members who recently returned to Studio 8H in February 2025 for SNL50: The Anniversary Special, celebrating the show's 50 seasons.
"I've always been a fan of SNL, so it was just great to come back and salute Lorne and everybody involved. Man, it was incredible. Like you said, it was like an out of body experience," he told Fallon, who shared photos of Hall with fellow former cast members Chevy Chase, Adam Sandler, and Will Ferrell at the star-studded event.
"It was just so many people there," he continued. "And just an honor to be a part of it... to reflect back, just that I was even there. It was amazing."
