Three weeks ago, Maya Rudolph was likely preparing to dive into production on a third season of her recently renewed Apple TV+ series, “Loot.” Oh, how times have changed. With President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 election, Vice President Kamala Harris is now the de facto nominee for the Democratic Party. That means Rudolph will be taking some cross-country flights to reprise her Emmy-winning impersonation of Harris on “Saturday Night Live.” The reaction to this news from many will be a “We won y’all!” (you can even hear it in Rudolph’s voice as Harris).
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According to Deadline, Rudolph’s recent commitment to portray Harris through the 2024 election has paused production on the third season of “Loot” which was set to begin on August 26. Filming is now scheduled to begin in January. If Harris wins, many assume “SNL” will turn to another full-time cast member to portray the new president for the remainder of the season. James Austin Johnson, a cast member since 2021, has been playing the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, on the program for the past few seasons.
A five-time Emmy Award winner and 15-time nominee, Rudolph won the Guest Actress in a Comedy Series category in 2020 for her portrayal of Harris during the 2020 Democratic Primaries. She then returned to “SNL” in the fall of 2020 to play Harris in several sketches. She is currently a four-time nominee this Emmy season as Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for “Loot,” hosting “SNL,” for her “Mother’s Day Monologue” on “SNL” for the Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics category, and, once again, for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for “Big Mouth.”
Considering the “SNL” veteran already returned to play Harris four years ago, this isn’t technically “stunt” casting, but it does land in a special category for the 30 Rock staple. Alec Baldwin famously won an Emmy for his portrayal of Trump in 2017 (and landed two other nominations for it) while Jim Carrey moved to NYC to portray Biden for the 2020 season.
“Saturday Night Live” will return for its 50th anniversary season on Saturday, September 28.