Saturday Night Live apparently nearly had a new Donald Trump impersonator for its 50th season.
Shane Gillis claimed over the weekend that he was asked to play the former President of the United States for the entirety of Season 50 but turned it down.
At Skankfest, a comedy festival in Las Vegas, it emerged that Gillis, who did spoof Trump when he hosted SNL last season, was asked by Lorne Michaels to do it again.
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“Nobody thought [Gillis] was coming to this festival this year,” podcaster Luis J. Gomez said.
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“Explain why,” Gillis replied. “Because he was offered to play Trump on the entire season of SNL and he turned it down to f*cking be here, folks,” Gomez added. Gillis said, “They said, ‘Are you serious? You’re going to say no?’ I said, ‘Lorne, I’ve got to go to Coke Magic.’”
The idea of a new Trump impersonator gained steam after Lorne Michaels gave a recent interview ahead of the current season, where he said that the show would have to “reinvent it again” following the Presidential debate.
In the end, James Austin Johnson, who has recently portrayed Trump on the show, returned to play the Republican presidential nominee alongside Maya Rudolph as Vice President Kamala Harris, Jim Gaffigan as Tim Walz, Dana Carvey as President Joe Biden, and Andy Samberg as Doug Emhoff.
Before Johnson, Alec Baldwin portrayed Trump on the NBC late-night show. The Rust actor started his impression in 2016 when Trump was running for President and continued through to Trump’s defeat in 2020.
Baldwin won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for the role in 2017.
Shane Gillis is the worst.
Anyone who announces they turned down a role was not offered the role.
He didn’t announce it, another comedian blurted it out
He has the best Trump impersonation in the biz. His appearance on Kill Tony solidified that.
Watching kill tony is disqualifying.
when someone says “I watch Kill Tony” I can’t hear anything else they say after those four words. It’s like they said “The moon landing was fake” or “Rob Scheider makes smart good points.”
Thank God, James Austin Johnson is incredible at the non-sequitur rambling and change of tone. He deserves the role, especially since they already took Biden from him in favor of Dana Carvey just doing a confused Bush impression.
Guess what. And by the way.
And I say that I turned down an offer to play Emily Litella.