LOS ANGELES — Comedian Ego Nwodim will join "Saturday Night Live" as its newest featured player, as the NBC late-night mainstay starts its 44th season.

"SNL" is set to launch its next cycle on September 29 with host Adam Driver and musical guest Kanye West.

Ego Nwodim, who is joining the cast of "Saturday Night Live." Dana Patrick / Saturday Night Live

Nwodim graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in biology and has been a regular cast member at the UCB Theatre in Los Angeles, where she performed her one-woman show, "Great Black Women ... and Then There's Me."

She has had small roles in projects like 2017's "Singularity" and the streaming-video series "Galactic War Room."

"SNL" also added Alan Linic, Alison Gates, Eli Mandel and Bowen Yang as writers.

Nwodim's addition to the cast is the latest in a series of tweaks that have made Mikey Day, Melissa Villasenor, and Alex Moffat full members of the cast, after having served as featured players in recent seasons.

Chris Redd and Heidi Gardner are set to return as featured players. Luke Null, a featured player who joined the show last season, has departed the program.