‘SNL 50: The Anniversary Special': How to Watch
Flattered, honored, blown away, pleasantly tickled, a little annoyed, mildly disappointed, decidedly unamused: Usually one of those is to some degree how a celebrity feels about being impersonated on Saturday Night Live.
Even easily irked President Donald Trump sang the praises of Darrell Hammond, calling him "much funnier and a far greater talent" than Alec Baldwin, who took over during Trump's 2016 presidential run and stayed on as a guest actor for several years (and won an Emmy for his efforts).
Baldwin called it "agony" playing the commander-in-chief, who was sworn in again last month, while Trump countered by saying it was "agony for those forced to watch."
So, win some, lose some. (And Trump surprisingly hasn't shared what he thinks of James Austin Johnson's current incarnation.)
But impersonations, some more uncanny than others, have been part of the lifeblood of the iconic NBC sketch series since its inception in 1975, the SNL cast—and assorted guests—parodying politicians, actors, singers, talk show hosts, reality stars and all manner of public figures for the last 50 years.
And with so many stars of the show past and present lined up to appear on SNL50: The Anniversary Special, airing live Feb. 16 on NBC and Peacock, who isn’t looking forward to a trip down classic-impressions lane?
"It's one thing to be able to do impressions," Hammond, who in addition to Trump played former President Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Regis Philbin, Sean Connery, John Travolta and about 100 other people during his 14 seasons as a cast member, told GQ in January. "It's another thing to be able to do impressions on Saturday Night Live—meaning, to get that laugh, to do a funny impression."
Which doesn’t necessarily mean being indistinguishable from the subject of the impersonation.
Alison Hale/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images
“It’s got to be funny,” Bill Hader, who came out firing in his first season with now legendary impressions of Vincent Price and Al Pacino, told Vulture in 2012. “You can be really accurate, and I’ve done that before, where I’ve gotten someone and they went, ‘That’s really accurate, but it’s low energy and not very funny.’ Or it’s accurate but, you know, the caricature version of him is actually kind of better.”
And, sometimes, it’s personal.
“I freaked out at the enormity of the task,” Kate McKinnon told Rolling Stone of playing Hillary Clinton on SNL. “It really gets ratcheted up another notch when politics is involved.”
A clue that the celebs appreciate the impressions? When they appear in an SNL sketch with their portrayer, as Clinton did with McKinnon, Sarah Palin did with Tina Fey, Bernie Sanders did with Larry David and, most recently, Kamala Harris did with Maya Rudolph.
Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images
“I mean, she's so good," Harris said of Rudolph in October, praising the SNL alum during an appearance on The View. "She had the whole thing—the suit, the jewelry, everything!”
Before the best in the business reconvene for SNL50: The Anniversary Special, see how more stars have reacted to being impersonated on Saturday Night Live:
NBC; MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
Brad Pitt as Dr. Anthony Fauci
After the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases joked that he'd like Pitt to play him in an inevitable SNL sketch, the movie star granted his wish during one of the show's at-home episodes filmed virtually in the spring of 2020. "I think he did great," Fauci said during an interview with Telemundo's Un Nuevo Dia the following Monday. "I'm a great fan of Brad Pitt, and that's the reason why when people ask me who I would like to play me, I mention Brad Pitt. He's one of my favorite actors...I think he showed that he is really a classy guy when at the end he took off his hair and thanked me and all of the health care workers. So not only is he a really great actor, but he is actually a classy person."
NBC; Netflix
Chloe Fineman as Carole Baskin
The Tiger King star and Dancing With the Stars season 29 contestant was not a fan of her impersonation. "I could just slap that woman," Baskin said during an August 2020 interview on The Pet Show podcast. "This whole, 'My kitty, meow, meow, kitty, meow,' and then she would just say these really weird words all in a row. That all became popular, I guess, in popular culture and people wanted me to talk like that on the Cameos. And I'm like, ‘I have no idea how to talk like that. That is not how I speak."
NBC, Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Kate McKinnon as Ruth Bader Ginsburg
"I liked the actress who portrayed me," the late Ginsburg told NPR's Nina Totenberg at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. "And I would like to say, ‘Gins-Burn!' sometimes to my colleagues."
Alexander Tamargo/WireImage; Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton
"Her really dramatic impersonation of me does make me think, 'Oh my gosh, did I roll my eyes? Lift my eyebrows?'" Clinton told People. "My laugh, which has been noted since I was a little girl—'hearty' is the way it's often described—I see the exaggerated version of it and I do sometimes think, 'Well, maybe I should just sort of back off from that.' But then I forget and go on and just be what I've always been."
NBC; Bravo
Will Ferrell as James Lipton
"I ask my share of naïve questions on Inside the Actors Studio, but one of the most naïve questions ever asked of me is, 'Did Will Ferrell's imitation bother you?'" Lipton wrote in his 2007 memoir. "Upset me! No one waited more eagerly for the next installment—and the day Will left Saturday Night Live, which is to say the day I left Saturday Night Live, was a very dark day for me."
NBC
Kristen Wiig as Kathie Lee Gifford
"Everyone seems to enjoy it, but I don't think it's that funny," Gifford said on Today. "Can't she get another job? Go off and do something else?"
NBC; Fremantle Media
Kenan Thompson as Steve Harvey
"I just look at it like this: You gotta be famous to get hit," Harvey told TV Guide. "I can't read that well, but I can read better than Kenan can. I really don't have 50 buttons on any of my suits. Ten years ago I did, but not anymore. And I can't pronounce words that have four syllables, so he's right."
Dana Edelson/NBC, Al Drago/CQ Roll Call
Tina Fey as Sarah Palin
"She thought it was quite funny," Palin's spokesperson told CBS News, "particularly because she once dressed up as Tina Fey for Halloween."
NBC; Alo Ceballos/GC Images
Andy Samberg as Mark Wahlberg
"I didn't think it was as funny as I'd hoped," Wahlberg told MTV. "I love when people do imitations of me; I try to get people who work with me to do it all the time. It's not gonna be one of those things like [Tina Fey's] Sarah Palin, where it's a big deal...I just wish it was a little bit funnier."
NBC; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer
"The first one was funny," Spicer told The Blast, adding that he'd like to "share" McCarthy's Emmy.
Kate McKinnon as Ellen DeGeneres
"I didn't like it. I'm just kidding—I'm Ellen!" DeGeneres joked on her eponymous talk show. "I like everything!"
Jeff Swensen/Getty Images; Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump
"Just tried watching Saturday Night Live - unwatchable!" Trump tweeted. "Totally biased, not funny and the Baldwin impersonation just can't get any worse. Sad."
NBC; ABC PHOTO ARCHIVES via Getty Images
Gilda Radner as Barbara Walters
"Gilda was the first person to make fun of news anchors. Now it's done all the time, but Gilda was the original. And, of course, I laughed at everybody—as long as it wasn't me. When Gilda first began to do 'Baba Wawa,' I hated it. I didn't like it. I didn't want to be 'Baba Wawa.' I guess it's good to be made fun of. I guess that means you're slightly famous," she told ABC. "I don't talk that way, and I do pronounce my Rs. Why did my parents have to name me Bar-bar-a Wal-ters?"
Zach Galifianakis as Jennifer Aniston
"I thought it was very funny. I've never been imitated before," Aniston told InStyle. "I remember watching and going, 'Is that what I do? Do I do that?' It was hysterical."
NBC; Getty Images
Will Ferrell as Janet Reno
"I thought it was just kind of a spoof of this 6-foot-1 big old girl," Reno told The Washington Post. "I can't figure out why anybody's that interested in me."
NBC
Kristen Wiig as Paula Deen
"I think she is brilliant," Deen told Prevention. "She is the most talented female that's been on Saturday Night Live since Gilda Radner."
NBC; Getty Images
Maya Rudolph as Donatella Versace
"I gave her some suggestions on how to do me better," Versace said on The View. "Because I told her, 'I don't drink. Take off that jewelry because [it is] too fake; I only wear real.'"
NBC; Tim Whitby/Getty Images
Vanessa Bayer as Miley Cyrus
"I said, 'You play me on TV!' And she said, 'Yeah, I do.' And I was like, 'Oh, well that's pretty cool,'" Cyrus recalled on Late Night. "And she goes, 'What?' And I was like, 'Oh my, God! I sound like you doing me!'"
NBC; Craig Barritt/Getty Images
Scarlett Johansson as Ivanka Trump
"If being complicit is wanting to be a force for good and to make a positive impact, then I'm complicit," Trump told CBS News, referring to Johansson's perfume sketch.
NBC; Getty Images
Kenan Thompson as Neil deGrasse Tyson
"I thought they could have done a little better," the astrophysicist said on Fox & Friends. "If the universe prompts people—artists—to have fun, then more power to it. It is a sign that science has become mainstream and that can only be a good thing."
NBC; Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Larry David as Bernie Sanders
"I think we'll use Larry at our next rally," Sanders told This Week. "He does better than I do."
NBC; GP Images/WireImage
Jay Pharoah as Denzel Washington
"I think the kid is very talented," Washington told Access Hollywood. "I'd seen him before that. He does a thing on YouTube where he does me talking to Will Smith. He's very good at both!"
NBC; Getty Images
Ariana Grande as Jennifer Lawrence
Calling the guest host's imitation "spot-f--king-on," Lawrence told Vogue she disliked the "regular person" line. "That's what other people have said. If I'd said, 'I'm a regular person,' I'd want to kill myself."
NBC; Brad Barket/Getty Images
Fred Armisen as David Paterson
"The governor engages in humor all the time, and he can certainly take a joke. However, this particular Saturday Night Live skit unfortunately chose to ridicule people with physical disabilities and imply that disabled people are incapable of having jobs with serious responsibilities," the governor's communications director, Risa B. Heller, told The New York Times. "The governor is sure that Saturday Night Live, with all of its talent, can find a way to be funny without being offensive."
NBC
Will Ferrell as Alex Trebek
"Every taping, somebody in the audience says, 'How do you feel about the Will Ferrell impression of you on SNL?'" the Jeopardy! host told The Hollywood Reporter. "And I say the same thing every time: 'I love it.' I wish he was back on the show so he would do more."
NBC; Getty Images
Kate McKinnon as Kellyanne Conway
"Kate McKinnon clearly sees the road to the future runs through me and not [Hillary Clinton]," Conway told The Hollywood Reporter, adding, "I'm known as much more happy than maybe the character sometimes is."
Dana Edelson/NBCU Photo Bank; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Ana Gasteyer as Martha Stewart
"There have been many [parodies], none of which are very accurate or flattering," Stewart said during a Reddit AMA session. "But Ana Gasteyer on SNL did a good job."
NBC; Lincoln
Jim Carrey as Matthew McConaughey
"They're all derivative compliments as far as I'm concerned," McConaughey told Vanity Fair.
NBC; Harpo Studios
Maya Rudolph as Oprah Winfrey
Winfrey was such a fan of Rudolph that the actress was featured in a 2004 episode of The Oprah Wnfrey Show titled "The Funniest People in America."
NBC; Getty Images
Kate McKinnon as Justin Bieber
"Well played," the singer tweeted. "LOL."
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