Kenan Thompson wants to be on SNL forever…What’s up with that?! (2025)

Kenan Thompson got his start in the business with kid-geared sketch comedy series All That, and if he gets his say, he’ll finish it that way, too. Believe it or not, Kenan Thompson has been on SNL for more than 20 seasons, first stepping into Studio 8H for season 29 in 2003. With just a few more seasons until he would officially land at having been on half of the show’s episode, he’s now wondering what it might be like if he actually stuck it out.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Kenan Thompson said it would be incredible if he made SNL his final gig. “It would be cool if I never left the show. That’d be crazy.” As it stands, Thompson is the longest-tenured cast member in the show’s history, with Darrell Hammond at 14 seasons compared with Thompson’s 22. (Hammond left in 2009 but took over announcing duties from the late Don Pardo in 2014.) “I guess the only other milestone would be just to be the forever cast member. Just never leave the show. I don’t really know. 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.”

Many have speculated that Lorne Michaels would leave SNL after its 50th season, although this has yet to be confirmed. But if Kenan Thompson could bank on any prediction, it’s that he and Michaels will leave SNL whenever they can no longer work.

Kenan Thompson was one of the rare SNL cast members who had an established career before signing on as a cast member back in 2003, particularly among those who grew up on All That and . But he still immediately made his mark on Saturday Night Live through characters/sketches like Jean K. Jean, Scared Straight, Black Jeopardy, and one of the greatest ever, What’s Up With That?

What do you think Kenan Thompson’s legacy on SNL will be? Should he ever retire or should he ride it out?