More than 30 years later, Dana Carvey still knows how to impersonate the president.
The Saturday Night Live alum returns to the NBC sketch comedy show this weekend for the premiere of its milestone 50th season, and here’s who’s doing more impressions of Joe Biden than most. explained why it was “difficult” and how the surprise appearance came about.
“It was top secret,” he told SNL alum David Spade on a pre-recorded special episode of the “Fly on the Wall” podcast. “I kept it a secret for weeks, but then Lorne Michaels asked me to go on ‘Saturday Night Live’ and play Biden. I did it for George Bush Sr.,” he said. I casually developed it because I like to say, “I don’t do that,” so I tried to treat Biden that way as well. And I extrapolated that here with a YouTube clip, making it ridiculous and weird. ”
During his time as a cast member on the show from 1986 to 1993, Carvey was known for several characters, including then-President George H.W. Bush.
“Biden wasn’t represented well enough,” Carvey explained. “There’s a lot of great Trumps, like Shane (Gillis), James Austin Johnson. Biden is more troubling to me, and it’s part of the process of getting that high-energy part of him.”
The Saturday Night Live set featured Dana Carvey as Joe Biden, Andy Samberg as Doug Emhoff, Maya Rudolph as Kamala Harris, and Jim Gaffigan as Tim Walz. NBC
He added: “It may sound a bit corny, but the real north star is to try to make it funny and not make it seem like it’s a political message in and of itself.”
During Saturday’s political chill, Carvey performed with alum Maya Rudolph, who is reprising her Kamala Harris impression in the run-up to the Nov. 5 presidential election. The sketch also featured Andy Samberg as Doug Emhoff and Jim Gaffigan as Tim Walz, as well as Johnson’s Trump and Bowen Yang as J.D. Vance.
