Saturday Night Live will return on Oct. 3, and the legendary sketch comedy show is bringing a new Joe Biden impersonator with it: the chameleon-like comedian Jim Carrey. NBC shared a first look at Carrey and cast member Maya Rudolph being made up as Democratic presidential and vice presidential candidates Biden and Kamala Harris.
In the year of Coronavirus, SNL has been largely absent from the airwaves, at least since the cast aired three Zoom-filmed episodes of a format called Saturday Night Live (at Home) through April and May. The show is making a planned return to coincide with the American presidential election, and with that comes new opportunities for American comedians to play public figures on TV.
Joe Biden is certainly not Carrey’s weirdest recent transformation, but it does put him in good company with other actors who have portrayed the former vice president of the United States on Saturday Night Live. Jason Sudeikis portrayed Biden for much of his vice presidential term; though in the September 2019 season premiere of SNL, host Woody Harrelson subbed in for the role. And while the Democratic primaries were heating up this spring, John Mulaney played candidate Biden in his episode’s cold open.
