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Everyone Who Has Played Joe Biden on SNL
Kevin Nealon, Jim Carrey, and Mikey Day are among those who've impersonated President Joe Biden on Saturday Night Live.
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. — or Joe Biden, as most Americans know him — has had a long political career, dating back to when he was first elected to the Senate in 1972. But while he was very busy in D.C. as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden wasn't immortalized in a Saturday Night Live sketch until 1991.
Back when Season 17 cast member Kevin Nealon first played Biden in a sketch about the Clarence Thomas hearings, no one could've predicted Biden would be portrayed by two movie stars and several members of the SNL cast many years later. While Jason Sudeikis played Biden when he was vice president, several other actors took on the impersonation through his primary campaign, the 2020 election, and his subsequent presidency. And each performer brought a little something different to the table.
So who will play Joe Biden on SNL in Season 50? Cast alum Dana Carvey did the honors during the cold open of Jean Smart's premiere episode, kicking off a milestone season that also welcomes Maya Rudolph back to play Vice President Kamala Harris.
Read on to learn about every actor who's played Joe Biden on Saturday Night Live over the years.
RELATED: Maya Rudolph Made a Hysterical Kamala Harris in This Emmy-Winning SNL Episode
Who's played Joe Biden on Saturday Night Live?
Kevin Nealon
Year impersonating Joe Biden: 1991
Kevin Nealon certainly looked the part when he played a 48-year-old Biden in the "Clarence Thomas Hearings" cold open, alongside Phil Hartman as Ted Kennedy and Tim Meadows as the Supreme Court Justice.
RELATED: Saturday Night Live Is Celebrating 50 Years with a Three-Hour Primetime Special
Jason Sudeikis
Years impersonating Joe Biden: 2007-2021
A cast member from 2005-2013, Jason Sudeikis debuted his Joe Biden impression on November 3, 2007 (which also happened to be Maya Rudolph's final episode as a cast member). Sudeikis would play Biden throughout Barack Obama's presidential campaign and presidency, and he returned after his exit to play him intermittently over the years through 2019.
Sudeikis also played one of three Bidens when he returned to host in 2021 (more on that below).
Woody Harrelson
Year impersonating Joe Biden: 2021
Woody Harrelson's tenure portraying Biden was brief, donning a pair of enormous fake white teeth for just three sketches.
John Mulaney
Year impersonating Joe Biden: 2020
John Mulaney's sole stint playing Joe Biden came during the cold open of the February 29, 2020 episode he hosted.
"Joe Biden? You look...different," Mike Pence (Beck Bennett) told him when he walked into the sketch, a meta commentary on the unlikely fill-in following Harrelson's run.
"Yeah, the surgery is starting to settle," Mulaney's Biden shot back. Larry David also returned in the sketch to play Senator Bernie Sanders, and Rachel Dratch was back as Senator Amy Klobuchar.
Jim Carrey
Year impersonating Joe Biden: 2020
In Season 46, Jim Carrey gave playing Biden a whirl (with even bigger, brighter teeth than Harrelson), tag-teaming with Rudolph as Biden's running mate, Kamala Harris. He stepped down from the part before the midseason break, writing in a now-deleted X post, "my term was only meant to be 6 weeks."
Alex Moffat
Years impersonating Joe Biden: 2020-2021
Season 46 cast member Alex Moffat swooped in to play Biden after Carrey put down the wig. And when Jason Sudeikis hosted on October 23, 2021 ahead of Halloween, he was joined by Moffat and James Austin Johnson as their respective Joe Bidens in the cold open, "Ghosts of Biden Past."
James Austin Johnson
Years impersonating Joe Biden: 2021-2022
While Season 50 cast member and master impressionist James Austin Johnson is better known for his Donald Trump impression, he replaced Moffat in the Season 47 premiere. However, as talented as he is, Johnson's not able to be both Biden and Trump at the same time. And so...
Mikey Day
Years impersonating Joe Biden: 2023-2024
Fellow cast member Mikey Day took over in Season 49, debuting his Biden during the "Biden Halloween" cold open for Nate Bargatze's October 28, 2023 episode.
Dana Carvey
Year impersonating Joe Biden: 2024
SNL kicked off Season 50's premiere with a star-studded cold open packed with surprises. In addition to Rudolph reprising her role as Vice President Harris, Jim Gaffigan made his debut as her running mate, Tim Walz, while Andy Samberg took over the role of Harris's husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff (he was previously portrayed by Martin Short).
But perhaps the biggest surprise was SNL alum and celebrated impersonator Dana Carvey's first SNL cameo since 2016, walking on to deliver his own Joe Biden impression. Carvey also notably impersonated former president George H.W. Bush during his time on the show.
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Originally published Sep 27, 2024.
