Gabriel LaBelle: “Saturday Night” Star on Growing Up Jewish

It’s hard to believe Gabriel LaBelle is only 23 years old – the Canadian Jewish actor has an ‘old soul’ quality, bringing depth and nuance to any role he takes on.

It’s no wonder why his portrayal of Sammy Fabelman in Steven Spielberg’s Golden Globe winning semi-autobiographical feature, “The Fabelmans,” won him the National Board of Review award for Breakthrough Performer. Working with the iconic writer/director on the film forever changed LaBelle’s career, giving him significant Hollywood exposure.

“That film set me up for the rest of my life,” he told Aish.com in an exclusive interview. It gave me the opportunity to have a type of role that had such substance, I had never been able to have that before. A full character, being onscreen that much, having such brilliant writing to showcase a variety of circumstances for him to go through – the fact it was created by the greatest filmmakers of all time and being around that, I learned so much!”

“The Fabelmans” was nominated for Best Picture at the 2023 Academy Awards, and Best Motion Picture, Drama at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards. LaBelle has also received an award for Best Young Actor for his role in the film by the 2023 Critics Choice Film Awards and was recognized as one of the Toronto International Film Festival Rising Stars in 2022.

After spending so much time on set together while the film was in production, LaBelle enjoys continuing his connection with Spielberg and his sisters, Nancy, Sue and Anne.

LaBelle with Steven Spielberg

“We keep in touch every once in a while. It's been great texting Steven, now that he's making a new movie. I asked how he’s been and he goes, ‘Oh, I'm busy casting and scouting, all good!’ And all his sisters are so lovely, it’s always so fun to see them.”

LaBelle has always wanted to visit kosher LA restaurant, The Milky Way, which was founded by Spielberg’s mother Leah (played in “The Fabelmans” by Michelle Williams) and is now run by Nancy.

“I was really so determined to go there! But then I just have never gotten the chance to, I gotta go check out Leah’s food!” he quipped.

Growing Up

While onscreen, the young Spielberg experiences antisemitism, thankfully LaBelle hasn’t had to deal with similar experiences in his own life.

“Not to the extent that Steven did growing up in Northern California in the ‘60’s. Definitely kids would remind you that you're Jewish, but it was out of bad jokes, not from hatred. It wasn't like I was scared to walk down the hallway or anything. I had a lot of friends, but I only knew of one other Jewish family. I was never bullied.”

When he was 15, LaBelle had his bar mitzvah celebration.

“We didn't really grow up religious. So it wasn't like, ‘Okay, you're 11, here's your date, let’s figure it out.’ At 14, I was at my cousin's bat mitzvah, and I realized, ‘Oh, I want to do that. I appreciate the culture and the tradition.’ And so I was officially bar mitzvahed at 15.”

Saturday Night

After receiving rave reviews for his performance in “Fabelmans,” director Canadian Jewish director Jason Reitman asked him to play legendary producer Lorne Michaels in “Saturday Night,” a fast-moving film about the chaotic first episode of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” that premiered Oct. 11, 1975.

“Lorne’s had this idea for a show for a really long time, and it’s finally the night where his dream can come true,” LaBelle explained. “Everything goes wrong, but he pushes through regardless. He just really wants to try something new that he hasn’t seen before, and he’s gathered all his friends to help him do it.”

In production notes, Reitman mentions why he was drawn to LaBelle.

“In the character of Lorne Michaels, we need that quiet brilliance and sly comedy of a young man way beyond his years,” said Reitman. “He needed to be an inspirational surrogate father for this unusual cast of comedians and musicians. Gabriel LaBelle has that in him. I met him standing next to Steven Spielberg, and I saw the kind of energy and leadership that people would get behind. In that moment, it felt like meeting a young Lorne Michaels.”

Labelle didn't talk to Michaels–also a Jewish Canadian— in context to the movie much at all.

“Jason advised us not to talk to our counterparts. Lorne was very lovely, and invited us to watch and taping of the show, right before we started shooting. There were other people in the room, and I think the movie was brought up maybe once. The conversation was flowing, talking about politics and some other stuff. I didn't really interview or study him or hack his brain or anything like that.”

LaBelle in “Saturday Night”

Nevertheless, LaBelle worked hard to authentically portray Michaels, adding that, the comedic executive producer has always been someone who wanted to do things differently.

“When you’re playing a real person, you don’t want to get it wrong,” LaBelle acknowledged. “But Jason wanted us to channel these people, not just mimic them. That meant that my way into Lorne’s character was his emotional journey, and all the obstacles that are thrown in front of him in those 90 minutes. It wasn’t about being able to articulate what ‘Saturday Night’ was but rather the unrelenting power to will it into existence.”

Throughout the film, there were a few playful references to Judiasm, including the joke, ‘if you want to meet black people, go to Harlem. If you want to meet Jews, go to our writers room.’

On Being Typecasted

Born with the Jewish name, Lorne David Lipowitz, Michaels changed his name to Michaels, to feel more accepted in Hollywood. “Well Michaels is definitely a more soothing name than Lipowitz, it’s more of a mouthful!” LaBelle enthused.

Jewish viewers may feel there was more of a connection to the role as both LaBelle and Michaels are Jewish Canadians.

“I definitely have a leg up on that perspective; I don't know how many Jewish Canadians there are in Hollywood right now. That's the timing–they were making this movie at the time that I'm available for it is very nice. But then again, I feel like, especially based off of real people, like with ‘The Fabelmans,’ Steven’s parents were played by Michelle Williams and Paul Dano. Neither of them are Jewish, but they were the most authentically correct versions for the roles. And Steven pointed that out first.”

He added: “I know that if I were to make a movie about my father, I'd cast Stanley Tucci, and I don't think he's Jewish!”

LaBelle asserted there's a level of authenticity to a person or an identity that “as actors, we're not supposed to be trapped in our own background. We're supposed to branch off and learn and be as genuine as possible. If someone's willing to do the proper research and understanding where someone comes from, I'm not against Jewish characters being played by non-Jewish actors.As long as it's authentic to whatever extent that means, I believe it. I feel like it all depends on the character and the story. But in terms of me, I'm an actor first, in terms of where I stand on that.”

The vibrant actor addressed how he doesn’t want to get typecast into solely doing Jewish roles.

“I don’t really think much about the Jewishness of my characters. I see them as people. I definitely wouldn't want to be locked into, ‘Oh, he plays the Jewish roles,’ because I wouldn't want to be put into a box.”

He continued: “I am happy to see a lot more Jewish characters and Jewish stories in film, because growing up as a kid, there weren't any of them. That's what's so great about Adam Sandler's ‘Hanukkah Song’ – as a kid, you're kind of looking around and you're like, ‘Oh, nobody else does this.’ It’s cool to be a part of that.”