Jim Carrey has opposed U.S. President Donald Trump on social media and now he can do it as Trump’s main opposition, Joe Biden.
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Carrey will portray the U.S. Democratic presidential candidate on the upcoming season of Global’s Saturday Night Live, when the show’s 46th season premieres on Oct. 3.
Showrunner Lorne Michaels explained the casting decision to Vulture.
“There was some interest on his part. And then we responded, obviously, positively. But it came down to discussions about what the take was. He and Colin Jost had a bunch of talks. He and I as well. He will give the part energy and strength,” Michaels laughed. “Hopefully it’s funny.”
“Obviously Woody [Harrelson] did Biden on the first show last season and did it brilliantly. Jason [Sudeikis] has done it in the past. Part of it also is whoever does it has to basically relocate to New York because of quarantine,” he added. “So, there were a lot of factors involved in that. But I’m thrilled Jim’s doing it.”
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Three new featured cast members have been added to the upcoming season: comedic actor and singer Lauren Holt, Space Force writer Punkie Johnson, and SNL staff writer Andrew Dismukes.
The entire cast from last season will return, but Michaels notes there will be some limitations.
“Kate [McKinnon] will be back for all these election shows. So many people had committed to doing projects in the summer, which then got moved. So Aidy [Bryant] has been doing Shrill, and she’ll be here for some shows and have to go back to that for others, he shared. “Cecily is doing a project in Vancouver, but we’ll green screen her for things. People will stay involved, but they may not physically be in the studio.”