As a cast member since 2003, Saturday Night Live mainstay Kenan Thompson has logged over two decades at the late-night juggernaut, making him the longest-tenured performer — as well as prone to speculation about his eventual exit.
In a new interview with People, the vet said he occasionally contemplates his possible departure: “I definitely do. It’s gonna suck. There’s just so many layers to it. It’s not just the onscreen that you see in that one camera shot. It’s so many people behind the scenes and years and years and years with each one of those people. So it’s gonna be a lot.”
He added jokingly, “I might have to just rip the Band-Aid and run out the back door and not say nothing to nobody and just write letters.”
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The Emmy-winning comic said it’s “usually always sad” when cast members leave the show, such as when former co-star Bowen Yang exited midseason last year after initially joining SNL as a staff writer in 2018. Thompson explained he’s “dreading the moment [of his departure]. I might collapse in the moment because it’s been so many years and so many relationships.”
He concluded, “That’s gonna be a drastic change at this point that I never thought, you know, SNL would be such a large component in my life. I never thought I’d even get the job in the first place.”
Last April, Thompson told Entertainment Weekly in jest, “It would be cool if I never left the show. That’d be crazy.” He also said he doesn’t know if he or creator Lorne Michaels would exit first, noting, “I feel like we’ll both just ride until the wheels fall off.”
Though Thompson is unsure when he’ll be ready to leave, he is set to return to his comedic roots by reteaming with Kel Mitchell, his Good Burger films and Kenan & Kel co-star. The duo will serve as producers and star in Kenan & Kel Meet Frankenstein, a horror comedy co-produced by Thompson’s Artists for Artists and Range Media Partners, which will shoot this summer.