Saturday Night Live has been a cultural institution since its debut in 1975, but it wasn’t always a sure thing. Jason Reitman’s film Saturday Night portrays the antics leading up to the very first broadcast, and multihyphenate Jon Batiste is on board both as composer and playing Billy Preston, the musical guest on the show’s first episode.
Awards Buzz spoke with Batiste about the freedom he had to compose an “anti-score” that served as the villain of the film. Watch the video above to hear all about the experience and the chance to get to portray the legendary Preston.
Saturday Night had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival and is currently playing in theaters.
