Get your coconut drinks ready, because Maya Rudolph’s much-anticipated return to Saturday Night Live is almost upon us.
The Loot star, who was an SNL cast member from 2000 to 2007, is busy gearing up to reprise her role as Kamala Harris for the show’s milestone 50th season. However, it turns out that she almost played an entirely different political figure on SNL: Barack Obama.
In a new interview with Variety, Rudolph reveals that long before she landed the part of Harris, SNL experimented with the idea of having her impersonate Obama. While Rudolph’s part was cut before air, the dress rehearsal is something she’ll never forget.
“There was a moment of asking me to step up and try,” Rudolph recalls. “And we did try for dress rehearsal. Sadly, Obama was there and had to see me dressed as him.”
The sketch Rudolph refers to was the November 2007 cold open, “The Clinton’s Halloween Party,” in which Obama himself cameos. It was re-worked after dress, and aired with Rudolph’s part excised:
Fortunately, the then-presidential candidate was a good sport about the whole thing. “We both laughed heartily,” Rudolph says. “Thank God that never made it to air.”
A photo from the dress rehearsal version of the sketch survives;
Over the years, Fred Armisen, Jay Pharoah, and Chris Redd have all taken on the role of Obama on SNL.
Rudolph first impersonated Harris in 2019 when the now-VP was a contender in the Democratic Party presidential primaries. All in all, she has appeared as Harris on SNL a total of 10 times (and took home an Emmy in 2020 for her performance).
Like Obama, Harris has reacted positively when it comes to Rudolph impersonating her. “I fully intend to make sure [Rudolph] has a good eight years of work on SNL,” Harris said on Late Night with Seth Meyers in 2020.
“This is so much bigger than me, and this is about something very important. I’m thrilled to be associated with it,” Rudolph told Variety about reprising the iconic role. “I’m also glad that I’ve played her and everyone’s cool with it. [Harris] likes it.”
SNL Season 50 kicks off on September 28.
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