Jim Carrey will no longer impersonate President-Elect Joe Biden on Saturday Night Live and the change is likely the right choice for SNL going forward. Carry made his debut as Biden in the season 46 premiere of SNL back in October. During the cold open sketch, Jim Carrey and Alec Baldwin parodied the first presidential debate of the election season. Baldwin reprised his role as Trump, with his impression hitting many of the same beats that Baldwin’s impersonation has hit before. Carrey, on the other hand, took a different route than most of the previous comedians and actors who have parodied Biden.
Woody Harrelson’s Biden impersonation on SNL debuted alongside Maya Rudolph’s stellar impression of then-Senator Kamala Harris. Harrelson portrayed a forgetful and well-intentioned yet charismatic Biden. Before him, Jason Sudeikis and John Mulaney had both done comical impressions of then-Vice President Biden. Most recently, on December 19, 2020, Alex Moffat’s Biden made his first SNL appearance. Moffat, an SNL cast member, played a more subdued and intentional Biden, especially in contrast to Carrey’s recent portrayal that more closely resembled one of Jim Carrey’s memorable film characters than it did the real-life Joe Biden. At one point, Carrey (as Biden) literally quoted his own character, Ace Ventura, calling Trump a “Lo-o-ser!” (which, notably, got a chuckle out of Maya Rudolph on camera as Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris).
Carrey’s impression of Biden, while sometimes funny, was often criticized by viewers and was not sustainable for the show (or for Carrey). The caricature of Biden was simply too energetic. Carrey played Biden as a finger-gun slinging, secretly aggressive man who is constantly holding back his inner beast and occasionally unleashing rapid-fire tirades of insults. While calling Baldwin’s Trump a “cracked-out, turd-hurling, sack of rancid dog snot” in the first presidential debate sketch may have felt cathartic for Carrey (and many cheering audience members), it sounded like Carrey was voicing his own inner thoughts rather than channeling President-Elect Joe Biden.
Originally scheduled to play Biden through the election, Jim Carrey left his SNL role as Joe Biden in December. According to E! News, Carrey wasn’t fired but rather chose to leave. Carrey, who lives in LA, was flying out on the weekends to play Biden and it’s understandable that the actor and comedian would not want to continue doing that on a long-term basis. Jim Carrey parted ways with his temporary SNL role on amicable terms and shared his thoughts on Twitter, saying, “Though my term was only meant to be 6 weeks, I was thrilled to be elected as your SNL President… comedy’s highest call of duty.”
Carrey is known for stealing the show with his well-known frenetic and hilarious energy. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work for a long-term impression of Joe Biden in the same way as Baldwin’s impression of Trump, which has – more or less – managed to last four years without growing intolerably stale. While Moffat has temporarily stepped into the role (and could continue doing so), SNL has yet to reveal who will play President-Elect Joe Biden in the future, which many SNL viewers will likely anticipate throughout the coming weeks as Biden is set to begin his first term in office on January 20, 2021, three days before season 46 of SNL resumes on NBC.
Originally from https://screenrant.com/snl-joe-biden-jim-carrey-end-right-why/