We sat down with the current Saturday Night Live cast in our latest cover story to get the scoop on impersonating everyone from Al Sharpton to Kanye West, what SNL means to New York, and much more. In the exclusive online excerpt below, we find out their favorite moments in the show’s history and how they got started in comedy.
ON THEIR FAVORITE MOMENTS IN SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE HISTORY
KENAN THOMPSON: What moment, would you say, is one giant, outstanding moment in the history of the clips of SNL that you’ve seen in the past 40 years?
KATE MCKINNON: For me, what stands out the most is the clips that inspired me as a child, such as Mary Katherine Gallagher breaking through a wall. Or, Brendan Fraser hosted at one point and they did a Xena: Warrior Princess sketch and his wig came off, and it was a moment of, “Oh my goodness, it’s live and they’re doing it, and they’re having so much fun because they all laughed.”
ON WHAT GOT THEM STARTED IN COMEDY
KENAN THOMSPON: This is for the people out there; they want to know what originally got you interested in comedy.
KATE MCKINNON: It’s an interesting question, Kenan, and what it was, I suppose, I just found myself doing a lot of funny voices as a youth, and people enjoyed that and I enjoyed their enjoyment, and that propelled a lifelong obsession for garnering enjoyment.