Maya Rudolph Will Return as SNL’s Kamala—But Who Should Play J.D. Vance?
Good news for Saturday Night Live fans: Maya Rudolph, who memorably played Kamala Harris throughout the 2020 primaries and election, will be back this fall to take up the role of the new Democratic presidential nominee.
Deadline has reported that Season 3 of Rudolph’s Apple TV+ show Loot has been paused to make room for her SNL return—begging the question of whether that series will ever return if Harris actually wins the presidency. The 50th season premiere of SNL will air on September 28.
With cast member James Austin Johnson expected to return as Donald Trump, the only question left is: who will play the running mates? Harris’ pick still hasn’t been made yet, but Trump’s choice, J.D. Vance, has already proven himself ripe for parody. Will the show pick someone from the current cast to play him? Or will it be a cast alumni, or perhaps a big name from outside the show who can bring some big new attention to the franchise for its historic anniversary season?
Here are are seven performers who we think could nail the role, loosely ranked by how likely it will be for SNL to pick them, and how fun they’d be in the role.
Aidy Bryant
The case for Bryant is simple: SNL loves the idea of casting women in the roles of sexist politicians, and the former cast member has already proven herself to be good at playing sleazeballs with off-putting beards. She wowed with her surprise Ted Cruz impression in 2021, and playing Vance would give her the chance to blow audiences away yet again.
Taran Killam
Killam was one of the strongest SNL cast members of the 2010s, to the point where it was a major shock when the show suddenly let him go before his seventh season. Killam’s already nailed it as the 2012 Republican running mate Paul Ryan, and is a remarkable comedic performer in general. It’s not certain if Killam wants to return, but we know he could pull it off if he did.
Zach Galifianakis
Galifinakis has risen to the top of fans’ wishlist because we know exactly how funny he can be, and we know he looks a lot like Vance. His ability to make people incredibly uncomforable means should be able to do a Vance impression from a fun, unexpected angle. It helps that his Between Two Ferns interview series has proven he can handle political material just fine.
Molly Kearney
Kearney’s a similar situation to Bryant, in that SNL writers would likely get a kick out of having a nonbinary actor play a politician who’s gotten into a lot of trouble for transphobic policies and comments. By picking Kearney over Bryant, SNL would also avoid the usual guest cameo problem of stealing screen time from the regular cast members. Plus, we know they can nail a certain type of incredibly awkward politician.
John Higgins
One of the three Please Don’t Destroy guys, Higgins would be a bold choice, because he doesn’t have much experience as a live performer on the show. That said, give Higgins some eyeliner and he could look a lot like Vance. If there was ever an opportunity for him to make the leap from digital to live performances, this would be it.
Tim Heidecker
Heidecker appears to be pretty friendly with a lot of the cast and crew at SNL, and he’s a genius at roasting conservative attitudes and talking points in his stand-up material. He’s never been on the show before, but we know he could play the deeply weird Vance to perfection—especially given his expert impressions of podcasters Joe Rogan and Bill Maher. If given the chance, Heidecker playing Vance could very well reach the same level of iconic as Tina Fey playing Sarah Palin.
Haley Joel Osment
This one seems the least likely, as Osment has never done much live performing. But the moment fans brought it up it became impossible to ignore how fun he’d be. Although Osment’s best known for his child roles in films like The Sixth Sense, he’s still proven himself as a strong adult actor in recent years, easily handling comedic parts in shows like The Boys, Future Man and Silicon Valley.
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