Dana Carvey talks 'top secret' Biden role on 'SNL': 'I've kept it under wraps for weeks'

Dana Carvey can finally talk about a big secret he's been keeping: He's back on "Saturday Night Live."

The comedian, 69, chatted on his "Superfly" podcast with David Spade about making a return to "SNL" on Sept. 28 to play President Joe Biden.

"It's been top secret," he said. "I've kept it under wraps for weeks."

The "Wayne's World" star showed off his Biden impression at the end of a star-studded cold open in the "SNL" season premiere, in which he joined Maya Rudolph's Vice President Kamala Harris at a campaign rally.

"A lot of people forget I'm president, including me," Carvey's Biden said in the sketch, and when Rudolph's Harris thanked him for stepping out of the 2024 race, he declared, "I didn't want to. You made me!"

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Carvey noted "SNL" creator Lorne Michaels asked him to play Biden on the show after he "casually developed" an impression of the president on his podcast with Spade. He argued there has been a shortage of great Biden impressions, especially compared to former President Donald Trump, who is played on "SNL" by James Austin Johnson. "I didn't see it out there enough, a Biden impression," Carvey said, saying he is "trickier" to impersonate.

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Carvey starred on "SNL" from 1986 to 1993 and famously impersonated President George H. W. Bush on the show. Biden has previously been played on "SNL" by numerous different stars, including Jim Carrey, Jason Sudeikis and Woody Harrelson.

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On the podcast, Carvey said his "true north star" with the Biden impression was "to try to make it funny" rather than to "get it to be a political message, per se." He also revealed a memorable moment from the sketch where Biden begins riffing on the phrase "build back better" until he says he "can't believe it's not butter" wasn't a written line. "It was (originally) 'Pirates of the Caribbean,'" he said, adding that he also toyed with saying "Bed Bath and Beyond."

On top of impersonating Biden on podcasts, Carvey also previously played him on late-night shows. Speaking on the "About Last Night" podcast in 2022, he described observing Biden's ways of speaking, including that he "would say 'no joke'" even when discussing "stuff that's not even remotely funny." Carvey also said he noticed Biden had recently become more "defiant," which he incorporated into the impression.

The "SNL" season premiere also featured Jim Gaffigan as Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Andy Samberg as second gentleman Douglas Emhoff and Bowen Yang as Sen. JD Vance.