Maya Rudolph Details 'SNL' Return Before Election

Rudolph will be returning to 'Saturday Night Live' this fall to reprise her fan-favorite portrayal of Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

By Megan Behnke

Maya Rudolph is returning to Saturday Night Live as Kamala Harris, and she's sharing some details ahead of her highly-anticipated appearances. The comedian made her debut as the Presidential nominee in 2019 when Harris was running for Vice President alongside Joe Biden. Since then, she's made numerous appearances, and it quickly became a fan-favorite role. Once it was announced that Biden was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race and Harris would be stepping in, many had hoped that Rudolph would return, and she answered the call.

Via Deadline, Rudolph appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where she told guest host RuPaul she's "never experienced something like this before in any of the work I've done." The Loot star continued, "This has been such a tremendous, exciting time for me that feels so much bigger than me or anything I've ever done. I've played her on the show already, but the minute it was announced that she was running, I think I was home watching The Bear and it was announced that I'd confirmed doing SNL. I was like, I did what? Everybody's just ready for it."

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With Rudolph having the possibility of playing Harris for not just four more years but potentially eight more years, she's just amazed that there's a Presidential candidate that looks like her. "I would never have believed you if you'd said, 'Hey, one day you're going to be playing the Presidential candidate,'" Rudolph admitted. "To think that I had anything to do with this by association is mind-blowing. I spent so many years on SNL watching other people play presidential candidates and thinking there's no one that resembles me in the race. To think that we're here now, and to think that I would ever be close by association, is so incredible."

It's unknown how many episodes prior to the election that Maya Rudolph will be appearing in. Production on the third season of her Apple TV+ series Loot was pushed back to the beginning of 2025 due to scheduling conflicts, likely coinciding with SNL. It can be expected she will be n a decent amount, and depending on the outcome of the election, she very well could be appearing in many more. In the meantime, though, it will be exciting to see Rudolph as Kamala Harris on Saturday Night Live again. Season 50 of SNL premieres on Sept. 28 on NBC's 2024 fall schedule.

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