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Personal U.S. Senator from Delaware 47th Vice President of the United States Vice presidential campaigns 46th President of the United States Tenure   | ||
The sketch comedy television seriesSaturday Night Live (SNL) has parodied PresidentJoe Biden since 1991, coveringhis time as aUnited States Senator, his time asVice President under PresidentBarack Obama, during his campaign to defeat presidentDonald Trump for the presidency, and as thepresident of the United States.
To date, Biden has been portrayed by nine performers:Kevin Nealon,Jason Sudeikis,Woody Harrelson,John Mulaney,Jim Carrey,Alex Moffat,James Austin Johnson,Mikey Day, andDana Carvey.
Weekend Update anchorKevin Nealon was the first to portray Joe Biden onSaturday Night Live. He did so during the show'sseventeenth season on October 12, 1991, during the episode'scold open. The sketch centered aroundClarence Thomas, who was inthe process of becoming a member of the Supreme Court while tackling sexual harassment allegations fromAnita Hill. It featuredTim Meadows as Thomas,Ellen Cleghorne as Hill,Dana Carvey asStrom Thurmond,Chris Farley asHowell Heflin,Phil Hartman asEdward Kennedy, and Nealon as Biden. The segment followed theSenate Judiciary Committee as they mocked Thomas for failing to date Hill, and as they traded dating advice with each other.[1][2]
Jason Sudeikis was the second performer to portray Biden onSNL, doing so from November 3, 2007, to October 23, 2021. In his portrayal, Sudeikis said "the outgoingness and gregariousness" of his performance was inspired by his father, whom Sudeikis felt bore similarities to Biden in that they were both "people person[s]".[3]
Woody Harrelson was the third performer to portray Biden onSNL, doing so for three episodes, on September 28, October 12, and November 23, 2019.
John Mulaney was the fourth performer to portray Biden onSNL. He replaced both Sudeikis and Harrelson for the role on February 29, 2020, which he hosted as part of theforty-fifth season of the show.[4]
Jim Carrey portrayed Biden for the beginning of theforty-sixth season ofSNL.[5][6] Carrey first appeared as Biden on October 3, 2020.[7] Throughout the season, Carrey's Biden appeared frequently alongside his real-life running mateKamala Harris, portrayed byMaya Rudolph.[8][9] On December 19, 2020, Carrey announced that he would step down from playing Biden, saying he only ever intended to play him for six weeks.[10]
Carrey's portrayal of Biden garnered mixed reactions from both viewers and critics.[11][12][13][14] Criticisms of Carrey's performance characterized it as being too energetic, which contrasted with the actual Biden, who was perceived as "slow and boring".[12] CartoonistRob Rogers remarked Carrey got aspects of his portrayal right, such as Biden's vocal inflections and "creepiness," but failed to capture "the whole thing."[12] Writing forVanity Fair, Karen Valby summarized her issue with Carrey's performance, "[Carrey] gives a bad Joe Biden when the country has never needed a good Joe Biden more."[11]
Alex Moffat replaced Carrey to portray Biden on December 19, 2020.[15]
James Austin Johnson debuted his Biden impersonation duringSNL's Season 47 premiere.[16]
Beginning with the third episode of season 49, veteran cast memberMikey Day took over impersonating Biden.
With the premiere of 50th season, former cast memberDana Carvey took over the role ofJoe Biden (Carvey had done the impressions several timesoutside of SNL).
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