Jim Carrey’s brief reign as Saturday Night Live’s resident Joe Biden has reached its end. Ahead of SNL’s final episode of 2020 hosted by Kristen Wiig, the actor took to Twitter on December 19 to announce that, following his six-episode run as Biden on the NBC series this year, he is retiring his role impersonating the president-elect. “Though my term was only meant to be six weeks, I was thrilled to be elected as your SNL president … comedy’s highest call of duty,†Carrey said. “I would love to go forward knowing that Biden was the victor because I nailed that shit. But I am just one in a long line of proud, fighting SNL Bidens!†A source close to the show also confirmed the news of Carrey’s departure.
Carrey made his Biden debut on SNL during the season 46 premiere in October alongside Maya Rudolph as Kamala Harris and, of course, Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump. “There was some interest on his part. And then we responded, obviously, positively,†Lorne Michaels told Vulture about the casting before the start of the season. “But it came down to discussions about what the take was … He will give the part energy and strength, and … [Laughs.] Hopefully it’s funny.â€
Prior to Carrey taking on the role of Biden, the former vice-president was portrayed by multiple people during season 45: Jason Sudeikis, Woody Harrelson, and John Mulaney. SNL hasn’t yet revealed who will take on the big role going forward, so only time will tell if the show’s list of “fighting SNL Bidens†is about to get just a little bit longer.
Update, 11:30 p.m.: And it looks like our new Joe Biden is Alex Moffat. Mazel tov to our newest-fake-President-Elect!