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Maya Rudolph will reportedly bring back her popular impression of Vice President Kamala Harris to the new season of Saturday Night Live.
Rudolph, 51, who was a regular cast member on the NBC sketch series from 2000 to 2007, made one of several returns to the show in 2019 where she debuted her portrayal of the VP. During the episode, she sparred with Woody Harrelson’s Joe Biden and riffed on Harris’s most memorable lines from the first round of Democratic primary debates.
She then famously brought back her impersonation of Harris for the show’s 46th season in 2021.
Since President Joe Biden abandoned his re-election campaign and endorsed Harris to replace him in the 2024 presidential race against Donald Trump, SNL fans have been begging for Rudolph’s return.
Now, according to Deadline, it appears fans’ wishes have been answered as Rudolph is set to reprise her Harris character for the show’s 50th season, which returns on September 28 and runs through the November 2024 presidential election.
Earlier this month, it was reported that there were no discussions about Rudolph returning to the show, as her schedule was filled with other obligations, including pre-production on season three of her Apple TV+ comedy series Loot.
However, pre-production for the show, which was scheduled to begin filming on August 26, has been halted, Deadline reports.
Members of the cast and crew told the outlet that production on the show – produced by Universal Television, a division of NBC – had been pushed back to January 3, 2025, due to scheduling reasons.
The Independent has contacted NBC for comment.
Rudolph’s representative did not immediately respond to The Independent’s request for comment.
Back in 2019, during an appearance on MSNBC, Harris joked that she intended to “keep Maya Rudolph in work for the next eight years.”
Rudolph earned her first Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her 2019 performance as Harris.
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The Bridesmaids actor most recently landed four Emmy nods: two for her hosting stint on SNL’s Mother’s Day episode, one for her voice-over work in Netflix’s Big Mouth and another for her leading performance in Apple TV+’s comedy series Loot.
Harris, meanwhile, has surpassed the necessary threshold of support from delegates to secure the Democratic nomination. An official vote to ratify Harris as the nominee will begin on Thursday before concluding on Monday (August 5).
On Tuesday (August 6), she will hold a rally in Philadelphia, where she will appear with her official running mate. At the moment, there are three names who have risen to the top of Harris’ shortlist after North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper took himself out of contention to be Harris’ VP.
