‘SNL’: Chloe Fineman Says Cast Is Ready for a Break From Donald Trump Sketches

Since President Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to President-elect Joe Biden, Saturday Night Live no longer has to focus so much on parodying Trump’s administration. Chloe Fineman, who joined the series in 2019, said the whole cast is ready to take a break from sketches about Trump. Last week’s episode did parody the Trump campaign’s attempt to overturn the election in the cold open, but Alec Baldwin was not brought back to play Trump.

In a new interview with Variety, Fineman said the cast is “definitely” excited not to do so many Trump sketches in the future. “I definitely spent a lot of the early part of the year like being, ‘Here’s my Kayleigh McEnany’ and ‘Here’s another blonde Republican,’ kind of manically like, ‘This is the last hurrah,’” Fineman explained. “Then I was like, ‘What are we going to do?’ because they’re so funny. But I’m sure Trump is just going to get louder and obnoxious. But it is definitely nice to have the break.”

Fineman has carved out a niche on SNL as an expert celebrity impersonator, and she showed off that talent in the Michigan hearings cold open. She played Nicole Kidman’s character in HBO’s The Undoing, who was called as a witness for Rudy Giulini (played by Kate McKinnon). Fineman also played Kidman during her Drew Barrymore Show parody in October. Fineman read ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas as Kidman on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon earlier this month. Fineman said her Kidman appearance in the Michigan sketch was added at the last moment.

“[Kidman] is the greatest actress, but I also go on Twitter to find out what the world is saying beforehand,” Fineman told Variety. “I didn’t write the jokes about the accent, but I definitely went back and tried to find clips where it slipped a little bit. And then for me it’s always like when the wig is on. The SNL wig department whooped that in like an hour.”

Kidman has not commented on Fineman’s impressions yet, but she hopes the Oscar-winner is not insulted by them, especially as she specifically parodied Kidman’s American accent in the Michigan sketch. “The last thing I want is Nicole Kidman to find me rude or offensive,” Fineman said. “I think when I had pitched her at the table in the past, I definitely presented her with an Australian accent. So maybe it is my fault. I take responsibility.”

This week’s SNL features actor Timothee Chalamet – who Fineman has also impersonated in the past – as the host. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are the musical performers. The Dec. 19 episode, the last of the year, star Kristen Wiig and singer Dua Lipa. SNL airs at 11:30 p.m. ET Saturdays on NBC.