Jim Gaffigan on the End of His Time as Tim Walz on ‘SNL’: “I Feel More Gratitude That I Had the Opportunity”
For the first five weeks of Saturday Night Live‘s current, 50th season, Jim Gaffigan has been part of the celebrity guests, playing Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz alongside Maya Rudolph’s Kamala Harris.
But with Harris and Walz losing the 2024 presidential election last week, Gaffigan’s time playing Walz has seemingly come to an end. And the weekly late-night sketch series didn’t feature either Rudolph’s Harris or Gaffigan’s Walz during its post-election cold open over the weekend.
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Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter on Monday night ahead of the 2024 Stand Up for Heroes event, which honored veterans and their families, Gaffigan indicated that his time on the show would probably have been limited even if Harris and Walz had won.
“It wasn’t the expectation that Maya and I were gonna continue on the entire time,” Gaffigan said.
And though he had to “cancel some [tour] dates,” to make the weekly appearances work, Gaffigan remains incredibly appreciative of his time at the “awe-inspiring” comedy institution.
“It was such a cool thing, so I don’t necessarily feel bad,” Gaffigan said of not being able to continue his Walz take on SNL. “I feel more gratitude that I had the opportunity and to, like, swim in that pool with all those talented people. You can’t consider modern American comedy and not include SNL in the discourse. And it’s such a unique show, the way it’s produced, so there is something really fun but also awe inspiring about it.”
The 18th annual Stand Up for Heroes event featured comedy from Gaffigan, Jon Stewart, Jerry Seinfeld and Mark Normand and musical performances from Norah Jones and Bruce Springsteen.
Taking place at New York’s David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, the event, presented by the Bob Woodward Foundation and New York Comedy Festival, raised more than $29 million for the Bob Woodruff Foundation to help veterans and military families.
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