When an actor starts getting buzz for a part, their agents and managers may be tempted to fib a little to land their client the role.
Jim Gaffigan says that his representatives invented non-existent video messages from him to help the comedian land his Saturday Night Live role as Tim Walz.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Gaffigan explained the call his reps made to him, where they shared what they’d been saying after people started pitching Gaffigan for the role online.
“I got an acting job in the U.K. this summer and [my reps] call the night before and say, ‘Hey, so we’ve been kind of telling people that you’ve been doing these impressions of Tim Walz in funny messages to us,'” Gaffigan said.
He hadn’t been.
“I was like, ‘Are you saying that I need to do some videos like that?'” Gaffigan added.
The comic proceeded to record an impression of Kamala Harris‘s running mate from a Leeds hotel.
“It’s all so secretive, and you don’t know if it’s going to get to these people,” Gaffigan said. “It’s just a total roll of the dice. But I knew how to do it. I mean, me and Tim Walz, it’s not that different. He just has a brightness in him that I once had, [before] I lived in New York or worked in the entertainment industry for so long.”
Gaffigan also confirmed that his SNL run was always intended to end with the election.
The calls for Gaffigan to play Walz came after Steve Martin somewhat publicly turned down the part.
“Me and some other doughy Midwestern types were pitched on social media because casting is now done by public referendum,” Gaffigan said. “But I’ve been around long enough to know there are certain things you just can’t campaign for, so I stood back.”
He expressed his love for the opportunity, telling THR, “As a comedian, it was like getting into Harvard for my graduate degree.”
Playing the potential vice president also provided some perverse incentives for Gaffigan, though. He lamented how many roles need to be serviced in the show’s political cold opens.
“There were times when I was like, ‘I hope Tim Walz does something strange so that I can have a bigger part,’ which is a weird thing to hope for,” Gaffigan said.
The comic hopes that being on SNL will open more doors for him in the acting world, suggesting that maybe he could play Jesse Plemons’ older brother.
“Being at the afterparty and hanging out with Martin Short and Jon Hamm, I’m not the type who would just go to that party if I wasn’t on the show,” Gaffigan shared. “So, having the unconscious invitation to be present is really an enormous relief.”
One potential landmine with the political impression for Gaffigan was his reputation as an apolitical comic. He shared that when his opening act would joke about Donald Trump at times after he was first elected, Gaffigan’s crowd would tune out.
“So, I stay out of it,” Gaffigan said, noting that he believes people go to see comedy shows to escape.
He came close to touching that third rail when he hosted the Al Smith dinner, the Catholic political event where Trump did his own attempt at stand-up while Harris shared a pre-recorded video with Molly Shannon’s Mary Katherine Gallagher.
Gaffigan said that he said yes despite his qualms, both due to being a Catholic and a lover of history.
“I tried to do it very much down the middle and in the spirit of Bob Hope, but there were still people upset,” Gaffigan said. “I want to be able to look my children in the eyes, and I pride myself on a certain amount of authenticity, but I really do feel America is like, ‘We don’t need to know what you think.'”
The comedian also talked with THR about getting his start as a comedian thanks to David Letterman and how stand-up has become more democratic today. He shouted out comics who’ve built a fanbase including Sebastian Maniscalco, Theo Von, and Nate Bargatze.
You can read Jim Gaffigan’s full interview with The Hollywood Reporter here. His new Hulu stand-up special, The Skinny, premieres Friday.
