Kenan Thompson reunited with his Saturday Night Live friend and former castmate Jason Sudeikis, who returned to the show this past Saturday to host. Sudeikis was on SNL from 2003 to 2013 and shared the screen with Thompson many times. PopCulture.com recently caught up with Thompson ahead of Sudeikis’ return and talked about reconnecting with the award-winning Ted Lasso star. 

“We’ve kept in touch over the years,” Thompson told PopCulture. “He’s had kids, and he’s been in his relationship with his wife, and stuff like that. So he’s a friend on the show, and so he isn’t around and he was living in New York for a while.” Thompson went on to praise Sudeikis for his work on Ted Lasso. The show’s Season 2 finale aired earlier this year, and Season 3 will likely hit Apple TV+ sometime next year. 

“Just watching everybody’s progressions in their careers and cheering them on in the process, and just couldn’t be prouder of him right now for all the successes with the show, Ted Lasso, and they just had a super sweeping Emmy night, which is incredible and one of the things that we all aspire for,” Thompson added. “So it’s just nice to see a buddy kind of going through that. Yeah, it’ll be nice to reconnect with him. I haven’t seen him yet because I’m still in LA shoot on Season 2, so I’ll see him on Friday, but I’m looking forward to it. I’m beyond excited about it.” 

Sudekis was hired as a sketch writer for SNL in 2003, the same year Thompson was added to the cast. Sudeikis became a featured player on the show in May 2005 before being upgraded to repertory status in September 2006. Some of Sudeiks’ notable roles on SNL were George W. Bush, Joe Biden and Mitt Romney. He left SNL in July 2013 to launch his movie career and Ted Lasso, which earned multiple Emmy Awards this year. 

Thompson is in a class by himself when it comes to SNL. He’s the longest-tenured cast member in the show’s history and is also the first cast member to be born after the show’s premiere in 1975. Along with SNL, Thompson has his own sitcom called Kenan, which can be seen on NBC. He’s also in the new movie Clifford the Big Red Dog, which will be released in November.