As is common with the U.S. Presidential election season, Saturday Night Live joined in by parodying the two candidates, President Donald Trump and Vice President Joe Biden. The president has been portrayed by Alec Baldwin for a while now but, this year, the show brought in Jim Carrey to play the former vice president. But now, after several weeks of playing the role, Carrey has revealed that his stint as the new president-elect will not continue during the four years to come.
Jim Carrey took to Twitter to break the news that he won’t be continuing on as Saturday Night Live’s Joe Biden. In the post, Carrey expressed gratitude in having been able to play an SNL presidential candidate and reveled in the fact that he got to join the line of actors to play Biden:
Though my term was only meant to be 6 weeks,I was thrilled to be elected as your SNL President...comedy’s highest call of duty. I would love to go forward knowing that Biden was the victor because I nailed that shit. But I am just one in a long line of proud, fighting SNL Bidens!
Aside from Carrey, four other performers have portrayed Joe Biden on SNL – Kevin Nealon, Jason Sudeikis Woody Harrelson and John Mulaney. Each managed to bring their own unique style to the politician, with Harrelson’s performance having arguably become the favorite.
SNL creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels previously explained that Carrey initially had interest in taking on the role. With that, the show entered negotiations with him and was ultimately able to land him for the part.
There was much fan fair surrounding Jim Carrey’s casting, though reception to his version of Joe Biden was ultimately mixed, with some even questioning if he was the best fit for the role. Some argued that Carrey’s constant energy was a bit too much for portraying Joe Biden’s somewhat laid-back personality.
Jim Carrey did manage to get glowing reviews from some viewers and critics, though. He even got a ringing endorsement from voice actor Jeff Bergman, who voices both Biden and Trump on Showtime’s Our Cartoon President. Bergman was particularly impressed by just how much Carrey physically resembles Biden, especially when he’s sporting those ray bans.
This truly will mark the end of a presidential era on Saturday Night Live, as Alec Baldwin also seems to be leaving the role of President Trump behind. The actor recently marked his departure with a few social media posts.
Saturday Night Live’s political landscape is in a period of transition, and one can only imagine who will be playing Joe Biden for the next four years. The show could very easily bring back a former performer to do the job, but there’s a firm chance they’ll also look for a fresh face. While viewers will likely debate the merits of Jim Carrey’s performance for a while, we can all agree that he certainly brought something different to the soon-to-be president.
Saturday Night Live returns with a new episode tonight, Saturday December 19 at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC, with Kristen Wiig as host and Dua Lipa as musical guest.
