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Smosh Announces Four New Cast Members Joining the YouTube Comedy Giant [Exclusive]
By Ryan O'Rourke
Few names are as associated with the early days of YouTube as Smosh. Founded by Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox in 2005, the sketch comedy channel that first took off with their lip-synced "Pokémon Theme Music Video" has grown by leaps and bounds into a multimedia company with a fleet of channels, boasting a combined 45.4 million subscribers and 31 million social media followers. Their productions have gone beyond two-man sketches into a wide slate of shows, from Smosh Reads Reddit Stories to BoredAF and entire live productions, like We're All Gonna Die, all with a massively expanded cast. The coming spooky season will only see the troupe get even busier, with the aforementioned show returning to Los Angeles' Dynasty Typewriter in November and December with new horror scenarios and a new season of Werewolf bringing a new game of treachery and strategy online on October 23, just in time for Halloween.
With so much on the agenda for Smosh and the company looking to continue growing, the creator-first entertainment giant is adding a few new names to its regular ensemble. Collider can exclusively announce four new cast members who will be fully integrated throughout Smosh's digital and live programming going forward, and they're faces that fans will be familiar with. Courtney Theophin, Eli Gonzalez, Emily Wirth, and Tatyana Guchi are all coming aboard full-time after making their presence known across the brand in recent months. Their entrance comes as Arasha Lalani, who had been with Smosh since 2022, left to work on her independent projects, like her 7EQUIS-produced call-in confession show Fesspool.
Theophin, Gonzalez, Wirth, and Guchi join a cast headlined by Padilla and Hecox, alongside Shayne Topp, Courtney Miller, Damien Haas, Keith Leak Jr., Noah Grossman, Olivia Sui, and more. Smosh has been consistently adding talent about every two years, with the most recent wave welcoming Spencer Agnew, Tommy Bowe, and, from Mythical Entertainment, Trevor Evarts. CEO Alessandra Catanese felt the latest quartet made total sense as new members of the team not just due to their talents, but because of the relationships they'd already built with the rest of Smosh's actors and how well the community has already embraced them. She said:
“Building the Smosh cast is something we approach with a lot of care because the chemistry among our performers is core to everything we create. Courtney, Eli, Emily, and Tatyana began appearing as 'friends-of' across several series, and their talent, rapport with our ensemble, and the response from our community quickly made it clear that they belonged at Smosh. They will only strengthen our creativity as we continue to push the boundaries of comedy and evolve our programming.”
The New Smosh Cast Boasts a Diverse Comedic Resume
All four new actors have built solid resumes in the realm of comedy before joining Smosh. The multi-hyphenate Haitian American Theophin previously brought his absurdist sense of humor to various teams under the Upright Citizens Brigade and also works as a producer at NPR. Gonzalez, meanwhile, has a resume spanning live comedy, television, and more, including appearances in the NBC hit comedy St. Denis Medical, Prime Video's Bosch: Legacy, and the upcoming Baywatch reboot at Fox. Like Theophin, he also has experience at UCB as a house member of Harold's team and on popular shows like F-ck This Month and Menudo Comedy.
New York comedian Wirth joins Smosh after years of stand-up, including recorded sets with Cracked Comedy Club and Newcomers at the Bell House, as well as a guest hosting gig with NowThis's Are You Okay?. She's also creating her own series at Funny or Die, titled We Saw a Dragon. Last but not least, Guchi brings a Black, queer, and Asian perspective to her work as a musician and comedian, previously being named a Laugh Factory Fresh Face, being heard on SiriusXM's Netflix Is a Joke Radio, and serving as creative director for the improv group Bernie Mac & Cheese. Her stand-up work at Cracked Comedy Club and Newcomers: An Emerging Comedy Showcase has also been filmed. In their own statement, Hecox and Padilla hailed the new hires for giving the Smosh team more comedic perspectives to pull from in growing their content offerings further:
"We're so excited to welcome Courtney, Eli, Emily, and Tatyana to the Smosh cast. Each brings a distinct background, comedic perspective, and energy that opens up new possibilities for what we can create together. We can't wait for our audience to get to know them better."
Smosh launches a new season of Werewolf on October 23, and new We're All Gonna Die live shows throughout November and December at the Dynasty Typewriter, which will also be available through live-streaming and video on demand. More programming will be unveiled in the coming weeks. Visit the official Smosh website and keep an eye on their YouTube channels — Smosh, Smosh Games, Smosh Pit, Smosh Cast, and Smosh Alike — for new releases and updates.