Kenan Thompson has inadvertently become Saturday Night Live‘s longest-tenured cast member because of one traumatic experience as a child star.
“SNL has just been a godsend that they continue asking me to come back, in a way that allows for stability in my life," Thompson, 47, said in a new interview.
Before he joined SNL, Thompson was a breakout child star on Nickelodeon’s Keenan & Kel and Goodburger. After his early success, Thompson was taken advantage of by an accountant who stole $1.5 million from the star by misleading him into granting the accountant power of attorney.
Kenan filed for bankruptcy and spent years rebuilding his credit. At that point in his life, Thomson “needed” the stability SNL afforded him.
“It’s just one of those things that you tape off and put in a dangerous area kind of thing,” Thompson explained. “That’s the border of a place that I’m not going back to. Just having my bank accounts in those ranges where it’s at zero or is at a negative. And I tend to make sure that I don’t go anywhere near that again.”
Thompson joined the sketch comedy show at age 25 and has remained there for a record-breaking 23 seasons. He said that the financial rock bottom has kept him from departing the show.
“If you ever wonder why I continue to do SNL, that’s a factor," the Emmy winner admitted. “So yeah, it’s a cautionary tale that’s in the back of my mind for sure.”
Contrary to most actors who live a “traveling salesman life,” bouncing from gig to gig, Thompson relishes the chance to grow roots in one place.
“It keeps it on the forefront of your mind too because you know nothing is guaranteed work-wise,” he said. “I get tired of the mystery of not knowing where your next job is coming from.”
Even now, after more than two decades on the iconic show, Thompson still nervously awaits his contract renewals in between seasons. After the show’s landmark 50th season, Thompson said his future with SNL was “up in the air.”
“I had finished a three-year pre-negotiated thing, and it was renegotiation time, and it just took a while,” he explained. “It was not pleasant.”
Though the star was ready to depart if his time was up, he was disheartened at the possibility of not being able to say farewell on air.
“I didn’t get a chance to do my last farewell sketch. So that was in the back of my mind,” he said. “I was like, ‘Man, that might suck if that’s the outcome. I just did my last show without knowing it was my last show.’”
Though Thompson has planted his flag in SNL, he has attempted to branch out, including two seasons of the eponymous sitcom Kenan and a filmography full of guest appearances.
He has also co-written a new children’s book with longtime SNL collaborator Bryan Tucker, titled Unfunny Bunny.
