On Thursday, comedian Steve Martin announced that he wouldn’t be playing the Minnesota governor turned Democrat veep pick, Tim Walz, on Saturday Night Live, even after SNL big cheese Lorne Michaels offered him the job.
“I wanted to say no and, by the way, he wanted me to say no,” Martin told the Los Angeles Times. “I said, ‘Lorne, I’m not an impressionist. You need someone who can really nail the guy.’ I was picked because I have gray hair and glasses … They’re gonna find somebody really, really good. I’d be struggling.”
Another reason he refused is that playing politicians is never a one-time gig: Maya Rudolph has been playing Kamala Harris since 2019. It is a shame, because Martin has an affable suburban energy to match Walz, who somehow looks like everyone’s dad and also every Australian prime minister. But if your dad or Scott Morrison doesn’t need work right now, here are our picks for SNL’s Walz.
1. Mark Proksch
This is a genuine plea for Proksch, who is very funny in What We Do in the Shadows, Better Call Saul and The Office. Like Walz, he also looks as if he could manage the heck out of your local supermarket. But this is also a plea for you to watch his run of appearances on midwest morning TV shows, in which Proksch pretended to be “yo-yo champion” Kenny Strasser. Kenny was very bad at yo-yo, but very good at trauma-dumping on unsuspecting TV hosts. One station’s news director said: “I hate that we got duped … He did some really lame things. He hit himself in the face and the groin with his yo-yo.” He’s really excellent.
2. Brian Doyle Murray
Yes, he’s Bill Murray’s older brother. Yes, he’s the voice of the Flying Dutchman in SpongeBob SquarePants. But he was also an SNL cast member between 1977 and 1982 – so the intense Aykroyd-Belushi-Chase years, when all the cocaine dealers within one mile of NBC Studios presumably had chauffeurs driving their Bentleys. After that, Doyle Murray could probably handle being the actual vice-president.
3. Michael McKean
He ticks many boxes. He’s another SNL alumnus (1994-1995) who has impersonated everyone from Bill Clinton to Jeffrey Dahmer. He has a Walzian face (cheerful, fleshy). And he played Spinal Tap lead singer David St Hubbins (named for “the patron saint of quality footwear”). But as a bonus, McKean can also do drama: he was Jimmy McGill’s brother Chuck in Better Call Saul. So if for some reason Walz is involved in a devastating fraternal tragedy, McKean could handle it.
4. Jim O’Heir
O’Heir is perhaps best known for his turn as the endlessly amenable Jerry/Larry/Garry in Parks and Recreation, but his comedy is far more unhinged than that role would suggest. Though he’s never appeared on SNL, he trained and performed with the legendary improv group Second City in Chicago, and we know he can do midwest charm (Pawnee was in Indiana).
5. Bill Hader
We have all appreciated Hader’s journey from SNL goofball to troublingly attractive psycho in Barry. But he really loves dressing up like an old guy. He can impersonate everyone. Who are we to refuse him?