Kenan Thompson Almost Quit Saturday Night Live - Here's Why
After more than 20 years on "Saturday Night Live," Kenan Thompson has been with the show longer than anyone in its storied history. But a series of gaffs in his early days nearly caused the now-veteran to quit. In his memoir, "When I Was Your Age: Life Lessons, Funny Stories & Questionable Parenting Advice from a Professional Clown," Thompson recalled several "rookie mistakes" he made that led to him almost leaving the show.
Preparing for one of his earliest sketches, which was ultimately cut from the broadcast, Thompson flubbed a line. "I couldn't make it through dress rehearsal," he wrote (via People). "I stuttered over this one line and couldn't ad-lib my way out of it." He remembered the writers avoiding him after that and feeling as though he was deliberately being given less screen time than his colleagues. It was enough to make him question whether he even belonged on the "SNL" stage. He asked himself, "'What the hell am I doing here?'" and wrote that he didn't know "if there was space at 'SNL' for my kind of comedy."
He asked castmate Maya Rudolph why he was chosen for the show, and she said the entire crew agreed he was the obvious choice. "'We could tell you were ready,'" he recalled her saying. After that moment, Thompson said, "I'd been validated."
Kenan Thompson's SNL legacy
Not only have Kenan Thompson's 20 seasons on "Saturday Night Live" given him more tenure than any other cast member, but no one else is even close. In second place behind Thompson is Darrell Hammond, with 14 seasons from 1995-2009. In its entire history, only 10 cast members have been on "SNL" for 10 seasons or more. Thompson has already doubled that, and he's still going. His work has paid off, having been nominated for five Emmys for "SNL" in both writing and acting categories. In 2018, he won the prize for outstanding original music and lyrics.
While the former Nickelodeon star admitted he struggled to adapt to live TV, his name is now synonymous with the "SNL" brand. And a simple mistake could have ended it all before it even began. But thanks to Maya Rudolph's pep talk, Thompson found his confidence, realizing "I wasn't just a kid laughing at his own jokes in front of the mirror." He's outlasted some of the most legendary names in comedy and has been a cornerstone of the show since 2003.