1 year ago
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Kenan Thompson Talks 2022 PCAs, SNL Faves & Pete Davidson's Secret
Live from New York, it's Kenan Thompson—and he's keeping it that way.
The Saturday Night Live prima has go the NBC late-night sketch series' longest-running formed subordinate since his debut successful 2003, but he's acceptable for different 20 years astatine this point.
While promoting his caller Old Navy web bid Lil Interns, Thompson told E! News each astir his lifelong vocation successful comedy, arsenic good arsenic his aboriginal astatine SNL with Lorne Michaels.
"I don't consciousness unit to stay, I don't consciousness unit to spell either," Thompson confirmed. "If Lorne says helium wants maine to beryllium there, I should beryllium there."
The formed has precocious gone done some notable formed changes, including the departures of Alex Moffat, Chris Redd, Melissa Villaseñor, Aristotle Athari and Cecily Strong. However, the lineup alteration hasn't played a relation successful Thompson's solution to enactment put.
"I tin archer erstwhile I'm bringing thing to the array connected Wednesday and the radical successful the country dependable similar they've heard this before, arsenic acold arsenic their laughter is concerned, it's a large quality than erstwhile idiosyncratic truly finds thing hilarious," helium explained. "I'm ever trying to deed that note. Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don't. So, I conjecture whenever it starts to go much often than not, I'm really not doing well, it'll astir apt beryllium clip to bash thing else."
However, the 44-year-old besides noted that helium doesn't precisely cognize what he'd bash without humor successful his life. Thompson admitted, "I've ne'er had a occupation different than my nonrecreational acting career."
In summation to SNL, Thompson had starring roles successful All That, Kenan & Kel, Good Burger, The Mighty Ducks and, astir recently, Kenan. He besides performed hosting duties for the 2022 People's Choice Awards.
"I deliberation I was ever benignant of attracted to the arts successful immoderate benignant of fashion," helium recalled. "I started with a theatre institution that taught maine the astir astir similar play and worldly similar that successful precocious school, but erstwhile I started with that company, I was playing the keyboards for them. So, it could've gone successful a clump of antithetic directions. I wasn't adjacent an histrion astatine first."
He further quipped, "Maybe I would've taken sports a small much seriously."
Will Heath/NBC
Luckily for Thompson and his fans, helium has been a staple astatine Studio 8H for 2 decades now. He elaborate coming up with jokes alongside the "very, precise brilliant" penning staff, saying, "Working with the writers and keeping collaborative benignant of mindsets, it conscionable helps to proceed to let maine to beryllium our existent dependable connected the show."
But portion Thompson doesn't person immoderate plans of leaving, it's inactive hard for him to accidental goodbye when his co-stars inevitably bash depart—especially successful the lawsuit of Cecily Strong.
"She's 1 of a kind. She's conscionable highly intelligent, highly creative," helium shared. "How are you susceptible of being that unfastened to the satellite wherever you're that smart, you're that intelligent, you're that experienced, you're that comic and you're inactive a bully idiosyncratic heavy down?"
In fact, helium adjacent named Strong among his apical six SNL stars of all-time. Thompson noted, "I was conscionable thoroughly impressed by her talent."
Catch up with Thompson each play erstwhile Saturday Night Live airs connected NBC.
With reporting by Isabelle Reich.
(E! and NBC are some portion of the NBCUniversal family.)
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