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The Cast of Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain Is a Comedy Nerd's Dream
Director Paul Briganti tells NBC Insider that the cast was a mix of PDD's funny friends—including SNL's Chloe Troast—and "people that we were fans of," like Conan O'Brien.
Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain makes its premiere on Peacock November 17. It's the feature film debut for Please Don't Destroy members Martin Herlihy, Ben Marshall, and John Higgins, with a joke-a-minute script written by the three. The movie follows three friends named...Martin, Ben, and John, who are floundering in early adulthood. Hoping that a windfall of riches can turn them from boys to successful men, they decide to search for a treasure they first learned about as kids.
The trio, who joined Saturday Night Live as digital shorts creators in Season 47, meet a host of colorful characters along the way. The Treasure of Foggy Mountain's cast is a collection of gems in itself, full of comedy legends, and a few "I know I've seen them before!" talents you should definitely know about.
RELATED: Meet the Cast of SNL Season 49
"The cast was pulled from people that were we’re fans of but didn't know, but we’d be so excited for them to be in it,” Foggy Mountain director Paul Briganti told NBC Insider, citing Reno 911's Cedric Yarborough and Conan O’Brien as examples. “And then there was another pool of people that the guys already knew who were so funny and we really loved, like Chloe Troast."
Read on for a quick who's who on the Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain cast.
Please Don't Destroy: Martin Herlihy, Ben Marshall, and John Higgins
If you've streamed The Treasure of Foggy Mountain on Peacock or plan to, you're almost certainly familiar with the Please Don't Destroy boys' work.
Please Don't Destroy's name is taken from a performance titled "Please Don't Destroy My Farm" that Herlihy, Marshall, and Higgins did staged they first became friends and collaborators in college at NYU. When shot-on-iPhone video sketches the trio filmed in their apartment grew popular on TikTok and the app formerly known as Twitter in 2020 and 2021, SNL creator and showrunner Lorne Michaels showed up at one of their live shows. Please Don't Destroy joined SNL as writers and video contributors in Season 47.
RELATED: Please Don't Destroy's Funniest Pre-SNL Videos
Conan O'Brien as Farley, Ben's dad
Conan O'Brien plays Ben Marshall's dad, Farley, who disapproves of everything his son does, despite Ben's need to please him. From 1993 to 2009, O'Brien was the Host of NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien until Seth Meyers took over the time slot. He also hosted The Tonight Show and has hosted several shows since, plus his podcast, Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend.
As Marshall pointed out in a Late Night with Seth Meyers interview, "he's weirdly never played a character in a movie that is not Conan O'Brien." That's mostly true; aside from animated work (such as voicing The Riddler in the LEGO Batman movies), the comedy icon has played himself in dozens upon dozens of projects. He even played himself as one of Liz Lemon's ex-boyfriends on 30 Rock.
Meg Stalter as Lisa
Like Please Don't Destroy, comedian Meg Stalter's screen career was sparked by the success of viral videos, with her internet fame leveling up during the Covid-19 pandemic. Stalter has played chaotic receptionist Kayla on the show Hacks since 2021. In another Saturday Night Live connection, Stalter embarked on a comedy tour with Season 49 cast member Sarah Sherman and comedian and actress Patti Harrison in 2023.
Nichole Sakura as Amy
Fans of the legacy NBC sitcom Superstore know and love Nichole Sakura from her role as brutally-honest airhead Cheyenne; she also played Jeremy Allen White's girlfriend on Shameless. Since Superstore, Sakura has appeared on the show Ghosts and lent her voice to shows and movies including Kiff and Suzume.
X Mayo as Taylor
Prior to playing Lisa's friend and fellow schemer in The Treasure of Foggy Mountain, X Mayo played Dori Ovens on NBC's American Auto for two seasons. She also co-starred in the 2022 horror comedy The Blackening. Like PDD, X Mayo has skills offscreen too: She was a writer for The Daily Show from 2018-2021.
Bowen Yang as Deetch Nordwind
Bowen Yang, who plays a central role in The Treasure of Foggy Mountain's action, has been an SNL cast member since 2019 after joining as a staff writer in Season 44. Yang has appeared in films including The Lost City, Fire Island, Bros, and Dicks: The Musical, and co-hosts the Las Culturistas podcast with actor and singer Matt Rogers.
Chloe Troast as a cult member
Before Chloe Troast joined SNL as a featured player in Season 49, she was performing comedy in New York City and appearing in online video shorts.
In fact, Troast had collaborated with Please Don't Destroy prior to the movie and becoming a Saturday Night Live cast member—for example, in this collaboration between Troast and Ben Marshall.
Cedric Yarbrough as Gates
Though Cedric Yarbrough is arguably best known for playing Deputy S. Jones on Reno 911! since 2007, he's had a notable career in comedy for over 20 years. In addition to popping up in cult comedy series like Brooklyn 99, Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ and Comedy Bang!Bang!, Yarbrough played the foil to Bob Odenkirk's character in the 2023 TV series Lucky Hank.
Sunita Mani as Tricia
You might've seen actress and dancer Sunita Mani playing the wrestler Arthie on Netflix's GLOW or as Trenton on USA's Mr. Robot. She also waggled her hot dog fingers in the film Everything Everywhere All at Once, and bounced around many rooms in the famous 2013 video for DJ Snake and Lil Jon's "Turn Down for What."
Mani also guest-starred in an episode of Pete Davidson's Peacock series, Bupkis.
Who narrates the Please Don't Destroy movie?
John Goodman.
Veteran comedic actor John Goodman is known for movies like The Big Lebowski and 10 Cloverfield Lane, and TV shows including Roseanne and The Righteous Gemstones. But Goodman has an SNL connection of his own: He's a member of the Five-Timer's Club.
