“Saturday Night Live” knows it has to “reinvent” its approach to depicting Donald Trump in 2024.
Ahead of the storied show’s 50th season, creator Lorne Michaels and head writers Michael Che and Colin Jost spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about their plans to cover the upcoming election, including how they navigate casting for the four biggest names in politics.
“As soon as news like Kamala's [Harris] running happens, America just starts debating who’s going to play them on SNL. Before we’ve even had a conversation about it, there’s a list of 10 people who should play Tim Walz,” Jost said.
Asked if cast member James Austin Johnson will reprise his Donald Trump spoof, Michaels dodged the question, adding that he doesn’t “want to get into what I’m doing.”
“Trump has morphed. James, who I think is brilliant, played Trump as the sort of diminished Trump. The guy at the back of the hardware store holding court, and that played because it felt relevant,” Michaels said. “But we are going to have to reinvent it again because, well, you saw the debate.”
Jost also defended the decision to cast non-cast members as politicians after the show announced that SNL alum Maya Rudolph would reprise her Kamala Harris impression for the season, noting that “it’s probably frustrating” for cast members but that “it’s sort of the reality of our show.”
“Maya and some others coming back for the election will be fun for everybody. And, at the same time, there will be new people emerging, a different generation,” Michaels said.
The sketch show announced its star-studded host and musical guest pairings for the first five episodes of the season earlier this week, boasting spots from Chappell Roan, Jean Smart, and John Mulaney.
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