Actor and co-star Chris Redd will be flying to New York on weekends from the set ‘Kenan’ when ‘Saturday Night Live’ is in production.
Kenan Thompson has a first series starting in February, but he has no plans to take leave at his longtime home against Saturday Night Live.
Thompson and co SNL cast Chris Redd plays in NBCs Kenan, which debuts on February 16th. The half-hour series of films in Los Angeles, which means on weeks when SNL in production, they fly coast to coast a day before the live show.
“We’ve only done it once so far, so we’ll see how exhausting it becomes when it’s going to become a sort of thing,” Thompson said Tuesday during a Zoom press conference for Kenan. “We did it for the Christmas show, where Chris and I went out on Friday and showed up for rehearsal. Then we had three weeks off before we had to do another job, so we’ll see how the turnaround goes if there is just one day in between. ‘
Kenan count SNL creator Lorne Michaels among his executive producers, which is likely to help smooth things out for Thompson and Redd. Nor is it entirely new ground for the sketch show; the regular Aidy Bryant and Cecily Strong both took time earlier this season to film other series.
Both actors also said they plan to keep up SNL.
“I did not decide to go,” says Redd. “I just have the pleasure of being able to create with one of my best friends and also be able to do sketching.”
Thompson said: ‘Before, there was a time when people would leave the program and go to their careers. But I think you can do as well as you can, and then you know, the room comes naturally in a natural way. “