The former actor has returned to play the vice president on and off since 2019.
As is the case Goddess of Intentional Comedy, Maya Rudolph Will Return to Saturday Night Live This fall, she will portray Vice President Kamala Harris.
According to Deadline, Rudolph will be on the show's 50th season until the 2024 election. This welcome and very reasonable decision comes as Harris prepares to take over the Democratic nomination for president after Joe Biden's decision not to run for re-election.
Rudolph – who originally appeared on SNL Between 2000 and 2007 – She first played Harris in September 2019, when Harris was running for the Democratic presidential nomination ahead of the 2020 election. While Harris lost the primary, her eventual selection as Biden's vice presidential running mate prompted Rudolph to return to the show for the 2020 election cycle (where she was notably partnered with Jim Carrey, who stepped in to impersonate Biden).
Rudolph last played Harris in a March 2021 episode of SNL In this scene, Rudolph plays Harris' character who leads a “unity seder” to celebrate Passover, along with Martin Short who plays his second-in-command Doug Emhoff.
Rudolph has received much acclaim for her impersonation of Harris, and has even won two Emmy Awards. She won Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2020 for appearing in just one Democratic debate sketch in an episode hosted by Eddie Murphy. She won the same award two years later for the aforementioned 2021 episode in which she hosted.
Harris herself has expressed her love for impersonating Rudolph as well. In 2019, when Rudolph first appeared, Harris joked in an interview with MSNBC, “Look, I plan on keeping Maya Rudolph in the business for the next eight years.”
Although things didn't quite work out that time, Harris may now have another chance to make good on her promise.
