Are you suffering from Kate withdrawal too?
I don’t know about you, but I’m currently suffering from some major Kate McKinnon-withdrawal right now. Since Saturday Night Live began its annual summer recess on May 19, I’ve been missing a certain hilarious blonde from my life.
Luckily, Kate is back in August with comedy-action film “The Spy who Dumped Me”, where she plays Morgan, a woman whose best friend (Mila Kunis) is being hunted by assassins. And it looks epically funny, with the trailer showcasing Kate’s impressive range of facial expressions – let’s face it, she’s basically an IRL meme.
But that’s still a little ways away, especially if you live outside of the US, which is why I’ve decided to compile a list of my favorite of Kate’s impressions on SNL from politicians to musicians to talk show hosts. In all honesty, I just wanted to share the Kate-love with someone besides my long-suffering family.
Kate has a gift for mimicking famous people, with a healthy mixture of their own mannerisms and her own commentary on their behavior, which I feel is unrivalled in the SNL cast. Although, I am biased as hell.
Without further adieu, let’s look at some of Kate’s best impressions over the years.
Justin Bieber
If, like me, you’re still little scarred by Justin Bieber’s Calvin ads (aren’t you like 14?!) then I have something that will help you recover. Kate portrays Justin as a wannabe rebel, who talks a big game about being an adult, when he still acts like a kid. She repeats her Justin impression in Celebrity Family Feud, where the musician has revoked his bad boy ways, but is still so immature.
Kellyanne Conway
Kellyanne was one of the most recognizable figures on the Trump campaign – although she’s been notably absent lately – where she gas lit numerous journalists, presenters, and experts over Trump’s words and actions… Wait, this wasn’t supposed to be a political article. Let’s move on…
Kate portrays Kellyanne as a woman who appears to take unrivalled glee in her efforts to deceive the world and defend Trump at any cost, in order to get attention.
My favorite of Kate’s Kellyanne skits is the IT parody Kellywise, where Kellyanne is hiding in a sewer in order to drag journalists down, which seems to be a commentary on news programs that will allow anyone to say whatever crazy thing they like in the name of “balance”.
Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen is an icon for many queer women across the globe, so it only makes sense that Kate would want to pay homage to her. In her performance, Kate expertly captures Ellen’s fun-loving nature, portraying the queen of daytime television as someone with so much energy that she just can’t sit still.
You’d think that would explain the dancing, but Kate’s portrayal reveals that Ellen hates dancing, but as she danced in the first episode, it’s been expected ever since. And best of all, Kate has Ellen’s approval!
Hillary Clinton
Over the course of the 2016 Presidential election, Kate portrayed Hillary almost every week on SNL, in debates with Trump (Alec Baldwin), campaign ads, and getting despondent about poll numbers in a bar with Val (Hillary Clinton).
Hillary has been an important character on SNL since the early 90s and we’ve seen many people portray her over the years, but Kate makes the character her own by playing a caricature of the public’s perception of Hillary as power-hungry and out-out-touch to the point where she’s almost a cartoon super villain.
It was hard to choose my favorite of Kate’s Hillary impressions, but I think the top spot has to go to her cold open about the email scandal, where she cites numerous times that she has wanted to be President since she was a baby and refers to clinical-sounding emails to her closest friends and family as warm and relatable.
Well, that’s about it from me on Kate’s best celebrity impersonations, so now I want to hear from you. What’s your favorite impersonation on the list? Which ones have I left off? And should I do a list of Kate’s best original characters? Let me know all that and more in the comments below.