SNL's Kenan Thompson Says Going To Broadway Shows Keeps Him From Becoming Complacent
Kenan Thompson has been hard at work on "Saturday Night Live" for the past 20 years. This fall, he began his 20th season on the show, where he portrays various fictional characters and real people, including Reba McEntire, Diondre Cole, Jean K. Jean, Steve Harvey, Whoopi Goldberg, and more. As the longest-standing member of the "SNL" cast, Thompson has undoubtedly worked tirelessly to develop a plethora of comedic characters for the show. Although many of these characters were designed specifically for "SNL," others are somewhat derivative of other characters he has played on past shows, such as Jean K. Jean, who bears resemblance to Pierre Escargot from the Nickelodeon show "All That," which Thompson starred on before "SNL."
Although Kenan Thompson really thinks "SNL" possibly ending after Season 50 could be a good idea, he still puts a ton of work into the show for the time being. However, after so much time working on the same show, actors might need to find a way to avoid becoming complacent. For Thompson, it turns out the way he accomplishes this is by going to Broadway musicals and plays.
Kenan Thompson has deep respect for how hard Broadway stars work
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Kenan Thompson answered 20 questions regarding his 20th season of "Saturday Night Live." When asked how he unwinds on his day off from SNL, he said that recently, he has been unwinding by going to Broadway shows. After 19 years of living in New York, he has finally started to go see a lot of plays and musicals on Broadway.
Thompson elaborated, "Those people never disappoint. They're so talented and they work so hard. Yeah, it reinvigorates me to go into the next week to be like, Oh no, don't get lazy. Don't get complacent or any of that, or don't think you work hard because in comparison, I don't know if we really do. Straight-up. Shout-out to Broadway." Certainly, the work ethic behind Broadway shows would be inspiring to a hard-working actor like Thompson.
Thompson added that a lot of actors get famous and then try Broadway thinking, "'Okay, I can just do it because I have acted before.' But it's like, no, you need to act, do choreography, sing, arrange, and you know how to carry those notes and not lose your breath and stay on target, man. What? And remember lines on top of all of that and blocking and participating with your fellow actors on stage as well, and just being aware, not falling off the stage? Bro, I respect it." It seems that Thompson respects and is inspired by the amount of work it takes to put on a Broadway show, but at the same time, he definitely does not envy Broadway stars. "I could skip that," he said.