Fred Armisen Scores First Post ‘SNL’ Job

A comedian’s career post-SNL kind of has a shelf life. Several months following an SNL departure proves to be a make it or break it time for comedians with high hopes in transitioning towards sitcoms or film. Some comedians make it post-SNL and others fade into obscurity (Cheri Oteri, anyone?).

Fred Armisen made a quiet exit from Saturday Night Live at the end of this season’s close, and now it looks like he’s making a solid attempt to move into the film world. According to reports, Armisen is set to join director Terry Zwigoff’s Justice For Al.

Justice For Al, is written by Melissa Axelrod and Zwigoff and will center around a story that follows a man who is framed for a crime. The man is convicted and sentenced to house arrest and is living with his parents in the home he grew up in. With the help of his friends, he seeks revenge on the individual who set him up. Of course, it doesn’t sound anything out of ordinary, but it’s a different project for Armisen, who usually plays quirky characters.

It seems to be a perfect match for Fred Armisen and Terry Zwigoff, as Zwigoff told indieWIRE that he has little to no interest in going mainstream: “Go to Target some day and look at who your target audience is. Look at the people who are out there going to films and you realize you are totally fucked, you don’t want to do anything these people like.”

For Armisen this is his first announced project after leaving Saturday Night Live. Armisen wasn’t the only member from Saturday Night Live to take their final bow. Longtime players Bill Hader along with Jason Sudeikis capped off their time with the sketch show.

Like Hader and Sudeikis, Armisen has already made tentative dips into other material. Currently he’s on the quirky satirical sketch show Portlandia, which he created with Carrie Brownstein and Jonathan Krisel.

It’s believed that his next project Justice For Al will start shooting in the fall.