Bowen Yang Urges Lorne Michaels to Find a New J.D. Vance for SNL: “I Can’t Do This!”
Bowen Yang is feeling weary of impersonating J.D. Vance on Saturday Night Live.
The Wicked actor first took on the role of the United States vice president in September 2024, just two months before Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election. During an appearance on The Daily Show, Yang expressed that, although he has portrayed the character for less than a year, he would be thrilled if Lorne Michaels decided to recast the role of the Republican politician on SNL.
“Lorne asked me [to play Vance], and I said, ‘Please, please, please don’t make me do this,’” Yang shared with host Desi Lydic. “I really do my best with him, but every time I have to play him, I go to Lorne and say, ‘You can do a buyback. You don’t have to stick with me.’”
The actor and comedian suggested a few alternatives for his replacement: “Please reach out to Zach Galifianakis. Please reach out to Taran Killam. But no, that’s my charge.” Yang admitted that he has found it “challenging” to portray the vice president, partly due to Vance’s accent.
“You know what, I worked with an accent coach,” he revealed. “We had to find the middle between Appalachian and Ohio. We really had to find the right [accent]. I was like, I don’t want to screw this up.”
At the start of the live sketch comedy show’s 50th season, Yang debuted the role of Vance alongside James Austin Johnson as Trump, Maya Rudolph as Kamala Harris, Jim Gaffigan as Tim Walz, Dana Carvey as Joe Biden, and Andy Samberg as Douglas Emhoff.
Beyond grappling with Vance’s dialect, Yang noted that he faced “such an uphill battle” portraying Trump’s right-hand man, as he anticipated that “everyone in America is going to be like, ‘This Asian guy is playing that guy?’”
He added, “I was like, I really got to nail this down. And I’m just telling you guys, I’m doing my best.”
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