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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Inga Parkel

Will Maya Rudolph make her Saturday Night Live return as Kamala Harris?

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Louise Thomas

Louise Thomas

Editor

As Kamala Harris continues her campaign to officially secure the Democratic presidential nomination, Saturday Night Live fans are calling on Maya Rudolph to reprise her beloved impersonation of the Vice President.

Rudolph, 51, first portrayed the VP on a 2019 episode of NBC’s long-running sketch comedy series, where she sparred with Woody Harrelson’s Joe Biden and riffed on Harris’s most memorable lines from the first round of Democratic primary debates.

She famously brought back her impersonation of Harris for the show’s 46th season in 2021.

Since President Joe Biden abandoned his re-election campaign and endorsed Harris to replace him in the 2024 presidential race against Donald Trump, X (formerly Twitter) has been flooded with SNL fans begging for Rudolph’s return.

“Hope Maya Rudolph has cleared her schedule,” one person tweeted, alongside a picture of Rudolph in character as Harris.

“When I listen to Kamala Harris, I can already hear the perfect impression by Maya Rudolph,” a second commented. “Hopefully, she's already booked for SNL this autumn.”

“Maya Rudolph about to be running SNL like the navy,” another quipped.

Maya Rudolph impersonates Kamala Harris on ‘Saturday Night Live’
Maya Rudolph impersonates Kamala Harris on ‘Saturday Night Live’ (NBC)

However, as SNL just wrapped its 49th season in May, an NBC spokesperson told Chicago’s WGN9 that there had not yet been discussions about Rudolph returning to the show.

The Independent has contacted Rudolph’s representative for comment.

When does ‘SNL’ return for season 50?

SNL is scheduled to debut its 50th season on September 28, just over a month before the 2024 presidential election in November.

Back in 2019, during an appearance on MSNBC, Harris joked that she intended to “keep Maya Rudolph in work for the next eight years.”

Rudolph was an SNL cast member from 2000 to 2007. She earned an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her 2019 performance as Harris.

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Last week, the Bridesmaids actor landed four Emmy nods: two for her hosting stint on SNL’s Mother’s Day episode, one for her voice-over work in Netflix’s Big Mouth and another for her leading performance in Apple TV+’s comedy series Loot.

Harris, meanwhile, released her first campaign ad. In the video, Harris declared: “In this election, we each face a question,” as Beyoncé’s 2016 song “Freedom” plays in the background. The pop star gave her blessing for the track to be used as Harris’s official campaign anthem.

While on the campaign trail, Harris made a stop in Houston, Texas, where she addressed the American Federation of Teachers conference. There, the crowd enthusiastically chanted “Bring it on!” in response to her speech about preserving hard-fought freedoms.

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