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Louise Thomas
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Steve Martin declined Lorne Michaels’s request to play Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on the forthcoming season of Saturday Night Live.
After Vice President Kamala Harris announced Walz as her running mate for the 2024 Presidential Election on Tuesday (August 6), social media users put forth Martin, 78, as the ideal actor to parody him.
The Only Murders in the Building star, with his glasses, white hair and warm smile bears a striking resemblance to the Midwestern politician.
The comedic actor quickly responded to the calls, joking on Threads: “I just learned that Tim Walz wants to go on the road with Marty Short.”
The following morning, Martin says Michaels called to offer him the gig.
“I wanted to say no and, by the way, he wanted me to say no,” Martin told The Los Angeles Times. “I said, ‘Lorne, I’m not an impressionist. You need someone who can really nail the guy.’ I was picked because I have gray hair and glasses.”
Martin, who will turn 79 next week, explained he did not feel like committing to a role requiring such dedication.
“It’s ongoing,” he said. “It’s not like you do it once and get applause and never do it again. Again, they need a real impressionist to do that. They’re gonna find somebody really, really good. I’d be struggling.”
Martin is set to go on tour with his Only Murders in the Building co-star Martin Short, 74, in the US this fall.
The longtime friends have performed several live shows together, including their joint 2018 Netflix special, An Evening You’ll Forget for the Rest of Your Life. They also co-hosted SNL together in 2022, which became the most-watched episode of the season with 5.1 million viewers.
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While Martin was never a cast member of the popular NBC sketch series, Short was a regular on its 10th season airing from 1984 to 1985.
However, the Pink Panther actor has hosted the show 16 times – more than anyone else bar 17-time host Alec Baldwin.
Martin would have joined Maya Rudolph, who is set to reprise her popular impersonation of Harris for the show’s 50th season.
Rudolph, who debuted her portrayal of the VP during a 2019 episode, won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance. She later returned as Harris for the show’s 46th season in 2021.
On Tuesday, Harris and Walz made their first appearance together as the Democratic party’s official nominees. Appearing before a 12,000-strong crowd at Temple University in Pennsylvania, Harris praised Walz’s roots as a teacher, veteran, congressman and governor responsible for policies like free school lunches for kids and protections to codify abortion rights.
Walz delivered a fiery speech of his own, balancing calls to bring back “joy” to politics with attacks on the GOP campaign.
“Like all regular people I grew up with in the heartland, JD [Vance] studied at Yale, had his career funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, and then wrote a bestseller trashing that community,” he said.
“That’s not what Middle America is. And I got to tell you. I can’t wait to debate the guy... That is, if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up.”
Saturday Night Live season 50 premieres on NBC on September 28.
