Steve Martin Reveals Why He Won’t Portray Tim Walz on ‘SNL’

Despite fans urging Steve Martin to play Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in the upcoming season of Saturday Night Live, it appears that won’t be happening.

When Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, named Walz as her running mate, the internet buzzed with excitement over how perfect Martin would be to portray the 60-year-old politician on the long-running sketch comedy series.

However, Martin has revealed that although producer Lorne Michaels reached out regarding the possibility, he decided to decline the offer.

“I wanted to say no, and by the way, he wanted me to say no,” Martin told the L.A. Times on Wednesday. “I said, ‘Lorne, I’m not an impressionist. You need someone who can really nail the guy.’ I was picked because I have gray hair and glasses.”

For Martin, a key concern about taking on the role is that the impression would be an ongoing one throughout the election and potentially beyond, depending on the election outcome.

“It’s not like you do it once and get applause and never do it again,” Martin said. “They need a real impressionist to do that… I’d be struggling.”

Maya Rudolph has already committed to reprising her role as Kamala Harris for the show’s upcoming 50th season. Deadline reports that the comic actress has postponed production on the third season of her Apple TV+ series Loot to fit SNL into her schedule.

Martin is certainly correct about the effort involved in guest-starring as a political figure on SNL. Alec Baldwin famously portrayed Donald Trump for the first time in October 2016 and went on to appear as Trump 46 more times over the following four years.

ET spoke with Rudolph back in 2020, and she opened up about the opportunity to play Harris during that election season.

“It’s really such an honor to be involved in any presidential race, and this one is a real doozy. So it is really an honor,” Rudolph shared. “I got to meet her, and she is so fantastic. She is so incredible, she is so energizing and I just feel so good to be associated with someone so positive.”

“I definitely tried to make her fun because I do feel that when I see her. You can tell she loves life and she is real, and she is honest, and she has no problem speaking her mind and being forthright about it, which I think is so important right now,” the comedian shared at the time. “But she is also so joyful, and you see her dancing in the room and all this stuff. She is just a great human, and I forgot what it felt like to see that and to see something so positive. It feels so good to see her out there.”

The milestone 50th season of Saturday Night Live kicks off Sept. 28.

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Source: L.A. Times, Deadline, ET