Kenan Thompson to juggle 'SNL', his new NBC comedy series
Jan 27, 2021
Washington [US], January 27 : American actor Kenan Thompson has a primetime series debuting in February, but he doesn't plan to take a leave from his long-time home at 'Saturday Night Live'.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 42-year-old actor and fellow SNL cast-member Chris Redd star in NBC's 'Kenan', which debuts February 16. The half-hour series films in Los Angeles, which means on weeks when SNL is in production, they will be flying coast to coast a day before the live show.
"We've only done it once so far, so we'll see how exhausting it gets when it has to become a repeat kind of thing," Thompson said Tuesday (local time) during a Zoom press conference for 'Kenan'.
"We did it for the Christmas show, where me and Chris went out there on Friday and showed up for rehearsal. Then we had three weeks off before we had to be on another job, so we'll see how that turnaround goes when there's only one day in between."
'Kenan' counts SNL creator Lorne Michaels among its executive producers, which likely helps smooth things for Thompson and Redd. It is also not entirely new ground for the sketch show. The regular stars at the show Aidy Bryant and Cecily Strong both took time off earlier this season to film other series.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, both actors also said they plan to stick with SNL.
"I haven't decided to leave. I'm just having fun being able to create with one of my best friends and also being able to go do the sketch," said Redd.
Thompson said, "There used to be a time when people would leave the show and go into their careers. But I'm of the mindset where I think you can kind of do both as long as you can and then, you know if the departure comes in a natural sort of way then so be it."
