‘Super cool’: Gabriel LaBelle on first Golden Globes nod for playing Lorne Michaels

By Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press on December 10, 2024.

Gabriel LaBelle arrives for a special screening of the film "Saturday Night" at the Vista Theater, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Invision - Richard Shotwell

Vancouver’s Gabriel LaBelle says snagging his first Golden Globe nomination feels so “surreal” he hasn’t wrapped his head around it yet – though that might be because he was among the last to hear the news.

The 22-year-old earned a nod Monday for best actor in a motion picture comedy for playing a young Lorne Michaels in Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night,” a film dramatizing the shambolic 90 minutes before the inaugural episode of “Saturday Night Live.”

“Literally everyone else knew before I did,” the 22-year-old said during a call from San Diego on Monday evening, explaining he was fast asleep when the nominations were announced.

“I turned my phone on from airplane mode to about 150 messages from friends and family. I was just really grateful that I knew that many people who would reach out to me,” laughed the actor, who broke out for playing a fictionalized version of a young Steven Spielberg in 2022’s “The Fabelmans.”

LaBelle said he hasn’t had time to process the nomination’s significance.

“I think it’s too soon to actually know what it is or if it means anything at all. But I think it does. I hope it does.”

He was among several Canadians to receive Golden Globe nominations, including fellow first-timer Pamela Anderson, who is up for best actress in a dramatic film for her starring role in “The Last Showgirl,” about a veteran Las Vegas performer struggling to reinvent herself when her show suddenly ends after a 30-year run.

In “Saturday Night,” LaBelle portrays a frazzled and frustrated Michaels, navigating a series of unforeseen challenges while leading a group of inexperienced comedians and writers. He stars opposite Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd, Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase and Rachel Sennott as Rosie Shuster, Michaels’ wife at the time.

LaBelle said Shuster, who was a writer for “SNL,” showered him with praise after “Saturday Night” had its Canadian premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

“She said all the things that a young actor could dream of. That meant so much to me. I cried in the bathroom at the wrap party after hearing them,” he said, adding that she commended him for capturing Michaels’ mannerisms and energy.

LaBelle said that after receiving Shuster’s compliment, the Golden Globes nod just feels like “extra candy and icing on the cake.”

“In terms of getting him down as a person, I think that will always be the most meaningful (honour) because she was actually there and she knew him.”

LaBelle said while filming “Saturday Night,” Reitman stressed that the actor shouldn’t fall into the trap of doing “a Lorne Michaels impression.”

“He just wanted me to focus on (playing) a young artist who’s making something different that people don’t believe in, and everything goes wrong. So how do you convey that level of care and passion and still be someone that people root for?”

LaBelle, who made his acting debut in CTV’s 2013 police procedural “Motive,” said it feels “super cool” to receive his first Golden Globes nod for playing a Canadian icon.

“I feel like people don’t really know about Canadians through Hollywood. And it’s not like this is a PSA movie on Canadians and Canada, but it definitely feels cool.”

Other Canadians competing for awards include Hamilton, Ontario’s Martin Short, who received his fourth nod for playing a theatre director in Disney Plus’ “Only Murders in the Building,” and Quebec filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, who’s up for best drama film for his sci-fi sequel “Dune: Part Two.”

LaBelle said he hasn’t yet received feedback on his performance from Michaels himself.

“As far as I’m concerned, I don’t know if he’s even seen it. And if I was him, I wouldn’t watch it. He’s got to finish this latest season of his show before he has time to be nostalgic.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2024.