Is Kenan Thompson the longest cast member on SNL? What we know amid Heidi Gardner's exit

Kenan Thompson is making headlines after reports emerged earlier this week that actress, comedian, and writer Heidi Gardner has exited Saturday Night Live after eight seasons. Meanwhile, Thompson has been the longest-serving cast member on SNL since 2003 and continues to this day. The record was previously held by ex-cast member Darrell Hammond, who was on the show for 14 years.

According to multiple sources, including USA Today, Gardner joined the NBC late-night live sketch comedy variety show in 2017 as a featured player in the 43rd season. She departed after the 50th season wrapped and was part of this year’s Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special in February.

During her tenure on SNL, the Shrinking star appeared on the show’s Weekend Update gig and became popular for her impressions of former First Lady Dr. Jill Biden. Heidi Gardner, 42, followed in the footsteps of other SNL cast members who exited the series this year, including Devon Walker, Emil Wakim, and Michael Longfellow.

In a recent interview with Puck, published on August 22, the show’s creator, Lorne Michaels, shared that he is reinventing SNL for its 51st season, which premieres on October 4. He also shared that many changes will be announced by the end of this month.

Michaels mentioned James Austin Johnson will return and continue playing the role of President Donald Trump. It remains undisclosed which cast members will return for the brand-new season.

---

Exploring Kenan Thompson’s stint on SNL in the wake of Heidi Gardner’s exit

Kenan Thompson is the longest-tenured cast member in Saturday Night Live’s history, dating back to 1975. He joined the cast in 2003 and became its first cast member who was younger than the show itself (born in 1978). Thompson, 47, continues to this day and is currently in his 22nd season.

He joined as a featured player and continued in the role until 2005. The following year, ahead of the premiere of the 31st season, Kenan Thompson was made a repertory player. He is now one of the senior-most cast members as well, following the exit of Seth Meyers in 2013.

In 2013, the Columbus, Ohio native refused to play Black female characters and was a key figure in making SNL hire Black women comedians. He is also known for performing over 1500 sketches as well as the most celebrity impressions on the show, including Steve Harvey, Al Sharpton, O.J. Simpson, Whoopi Goldberg, and Bill Cosby, among others.

Kenan Thompson, who even made a dinner-lobster sketch iconic on SNL, has been nominated for multiple Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on the show, winning once. While in 2019, he quipped Saturday Night Live was his “forever plan,” his fellow cast members have often joked that the show itself will end when he exits.

In a 2019 interview, creator Lorne Michaels called Thompson “the person I most rely on in the cast.” In August 2022, Kenan was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame for being part of SNL for over two decades. His star was placed next to Michaels’.

Besides Saturday Night Live, Kenan Thompson has also starred in the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series All That, followed by his own sitcom Kenan & Kel on the same network, alongside Kel Mitchell. The father of two also worked on the Good Burger franchise, The Mighty Ducks franchise, and as a judge of the NBC comedy competition series, Bring the Funny.

His other projects include hosting the NHL Awards and the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2022, and appearing as the face of the sitcom, The Kenan Show, in 2021.

---

What did Kenan Thompson say about SNL?

In May this year, after the conclusion of the 50th season of SNL, Kenan Thompson told Page Six that the end was “bittersweet.”

“Especially this year, where it feels like there’s maybe, possibly, a lot of change next year. You want everyone to stay forever, knowing that people may be making decisions this summer…it’s always like you want your kids to stay young,” he stated.

Thompson also revealed that he hadn’t signed a contract for the 51st season.

“You just never know what the future holds. I don’t want to be in the way of someone else, or I don’t want to be the stale old man riding the same thing. That doesn’t really happen that much at SNL, but there’s no guarantee, I guess,” he told the outlet.

A month before, in April, Kenan Thompson told Entertainment Weekly that it would be “cool if I never left the show,” adding that it was “crazy” to think about it. He said he considered his tenure on SNL as a “milestone,” which would further be fulfilled if he became a “forever cast member.”

Joking that he and Michaels would “just ride until the wheels fall off,” Kenan Thompson added:

“Thirty [seasons] is like, okay, that’s just another number kind of thing. Twenty was just such a thing that nobody had ever done. People had gotten into their teens before, but nobody had gotten all the way up to 20. And then I was close to doing it. Once I started getting into 17, I was like, well, if I can, I would love to stick around till 20. And now here we are at 22, so I don’t know.”

---

It is noteworthy that SNL bids adieu to many of its cast members between two seasons. Last year, before the premiere of season 50, three comedians exited the show, including Molly Kearney, Punkie Johnson, and Chloe Troast.