SNL's Fred Armisen an Obama Groupie: I 'Like Him More and More,' 'I've Just Been a Fan of His'
Talking to Meet the Press host David Gregory on the NBC Sunday show's
web-based feature Press Pass, Saturday Night Live cast member and Obama
impersonator Fred Armisen confessed: "I'v
e grown to like him
more and more. You know, I was always – I've just been a fan of his, if
you could say that about a president. So that's the other kind of good part of it, is you know, getting to like him more and more."
By contrast, fellow cast member Jason Sudeikis told Gregory he wished
he could impersonate someone more exciting than Mitt Romney: "I'd prefer
that he did something scandalous or something and, you know, incredibly
stupid, as opposed to just boring....I mean, he's like a butter
sandwich with unsalted butter and the crust cut off."
Sudeikis's
comments were prompted by Gregory wondering: "Romney here is not
exactly lighting it up on the campaign trail in terms of a being an
exciting figure. What does that do comedically?" Gregory then referred
to Armisen having the "advantage"of playing Obama on the show.
Later in the discussion, Sudeikis admitted SNL's leftward slant:
"...we're only a reflection of what's being, you know, done out there.
There's no agenda, believe it or not. Can't help it with, you know, our
age and where we live, you know, on the writing and cast, you know, to
skew a little bit liberal but it's not like, you know, these are all
human beings trying-"
Gregory helpfully added: "It is New York City, come on." Hey David, where is NBC News located again?
Here are portions of the April 29 exchange:
DAVID GREGORY: But what about the personalities? I mean, Romney here is
not exactly lighting it up on the campaign trail in terms of a being...
JASON SUDEIKIS: No.
GREGORY: ...an exciting figure. What does that do comedically?
SUDEIKIS: It, it, it – I, I think it makes it kind of...
GREGORY: Even better?
SUDEIKIS: I don't know if it does make it better. I, I'd prefer that he
did something scandalous or something and, you know, incredibly stupid
as opposed to just boring. Because to play boring is, is a little bit
boring. I – we're trying to find, you know, things like this last week
we sort of dealt with him, you know – I hate the overuse of this word –
but his flip-flopping and sort of not knowing who he is. We're sort of,
you know, we were narrowing in on that.
(...)
GREGORY: Fred, you have the advantage of you've been impersonating
President Obama now for, for some time, since he's come into office.
FRED ARMISEN: Yeah.
GREGORY: How has this developed for you?
ARMISEN:
It's nice because it's – you know, I think that as the public discovers
who he is and finds out more about him, I'm doing the same thing. And
that's, that's the, the kind of fun thing about it is that as all of
that unfolds.
GREGORY: You – I want to show a clip, too, of, you know, capturing the
hype of President Obama and then some of the reality that he had to deal
with.
ARMISEN [AS BARACK OBAMA]: It's the time to look forward and
acknowledge the sacrifices we're all going to have to make. But, before
we do that, remember the election night? Grant Park in Chicago, nice
weather, Oprah. The white guy Oprah was crying on. Good times. But
enough about the past. Let's talk about the present. Remember the
convention in Denver? Rocky Mountain air, yes, we can. Yes, we can. Even
John Kerry was fun.
GREGORY: These are the two sides to the President, always harkening
back to how much hype there was surrounding him when he got elected.
ARMISEN: Yeah, and it's also the public, too, kind of like remembering
back to that really fun time. But I've also like, I've grown to like him
more and more. You know, I was always – I've just been a fan of his, if
you could say that about a president. So that's the other kind of good
part of it, is you know, getting to like him more and more.
(...)
GREGORY: Is it going to stack up this year, do you think?
ARMISEN: You know, who knows? And also we can't – we also can't think about it too much.
SUDEIKIS: We don't think about it.
ARMISEN: Yeah. We definitely don't.
SUDEIKIS: We don't sit in a room and try to like – there's no – we're
only a reflection of what's being, you know, done out there. There's no
agenda, believe it or not. Can't help it with, you know, our age and
where we live, you know, on the writing and cast, you know, to skew a
little bit liberal but it's not like, you know, these are all human
beings trying-
GREGORY: It is New York City, come on.
SUDEIKIS: Yeah.
ARMISEN: Yeah.
-- Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow Kyle Drennen on Twitter.
