Will Maya Rudolph’s “funt,” aka Vice President Kamala Harris, be back on “Saturday Night Live”?
Speculation has been running hot since Sunday, when President Joe Biden dropped his election news, but the “SNL” alum is a busy actor these days.
Rudolph earned four Emmy nods last week for her work on three different shows: “Loot” (just renewed for a third season on Apple TV+), “Big Mouth” on Netflix and two nominations for a hosting stint on “SNL.”
She played Harris several times as a guest on “SNL” in 2019, during the 2020 presidential election cycle. Rudolph was a cast member on the NBC show from 2000 to 2007.
The “Bridesmaids” actor won an Emmy for her Harris in December 2019 during a cold open send-up of the PBS Democratic debate soon after Harris dropped out of the presidential race. She debuted the character earlier that year during a town hall bit that had her introducing her Harris as “America’s cool aunt. A fun aunt. I call that a ‘funt.'”
Her Emmy-winning turn as Harris referenced Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” with: “I just want to show you how good you could’ve had it, America. You withheld your donations, and I got tired of waiting, so I walked my fine ass out the door.” Rudolph then sang: “You coulda had a bad bitch.”
Calls for Rudolph to return to the role have flooded social media since Biden stepped aside. He and Democratic leaders have thrown their support to Harris as their presidential nominee ahead of the Aug. 19 start of the party’s convention in Chicago.
The 50th season of “SNL” premieres Sept. 28. An NBC spokesperson said there are no discussions at the moment about a Rudolph return since the show is on hiatus. An email request for comment to Rudolph wasn’t immediately returned Monday.
Rudolph wasn’t the first, or last, person to take on presidents and other names in U.S. politics over at “SNL.”
A month into the show’s very first season in 1975, Chevy Chase introduced his stumbly President Gerald Ford. Fellow original cast member Dan Aykroyd followed up as President Jimmy Carter and his “Ask President Carter” segments. Phil Hartman spoofed President Ronald Reagan, Carter’s successor.
In the 1990s, Dana Carvey morphed into President George H.W. Bush. After President Bill Clinton was elected in 1992, Darrell Hammond and Hartman split Clinton duty, leading to other presidents played by multiple actors.
President Barack Obama was played by Jay Pharoah and Fred Armisen, with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson appearing as “The Rock Obama” in a few sketches. President Donald Trump is a recurring recipient of “SNL” treatment, even before he was elected. Hammond, Alec Baldwin and now James Austin Johnson have become Trump.
Jason Sudeikis, Jim Carrey and Johnson have all played President Biden. And don’t forget Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin and Kate McKinnon’s Hillary Clinton.
Local school staple “Lost on a Mountain in Maine” from 1939 hits the big screen nationwide
Most Maine schoolchildren know about the boy lost for more than a week in 1939 after climbing the state's tallest mountain. Now the rest of the U.S. is getting in on the story.
Opening in 650 movie theaters on Friday, "Lost on a Mountain in Maine" tells the harrowing tale of 12-year-old Donn Fendler, who spent nine days on Mount Katahdin and the surrounding wilderness before being rescued. The gripping story of survival commanded the nation's attention in the days before World War II and the boy's grit earned an award from the president.
For decades, Fendler and Joseph B. Egan's book, published the same year as the rescue, has been required reading in many Maine classrooms, like third-grade teacher Kimberly Nielsen's.
"I love that the overarching theme is that Donn never gave up. He just never quits. He goes and goes," said Nielsen, a teacher at Crooked River Elementary School in Casco, who also read the book multiple times with her own kids.
Separated from his hiking group in bad weather atop Mount Katahdin, Fendler used techniques learned as a Boy Scout to survive. He made his way through the woods to the east branch of the Penobscot River, where he was found more than 30 miles (48 kilometers) from where he started. Bruised and cut, starved and without pants or shoes, he survived nine days by eating berries and lost 15 pounds (7 kilograms).
The boy's peril sparked a massive search and was the focus of newspaper headlines and nightly radio broadcasts. Hundreds of volunteers streamed into the region to help.
The movie builds on the children's book, as told by Fendler to Egan, by drawing upon additional interviews and archival footage to reinforce the importance of family, faith and community during difficult times,... Read More