Biography

Kenan Thompson is currently in his 18th season on "Saturday Night Live" as the show's longest-running cast member. He also stars in and executive produces the new NBC comedy "Kenan."

Thompson has made numerous contributions to "SNL" with his slew of hilarious impressions that include Rev. Al Sharpton, Charles Barkley, Steve Harvey and David Ortiz, and by playing memorable characters such as DJ Dynasty Handbag, the scathingly fierce co-host of "Deep House Dish," "Weekend Update" correspondent Jean K. Jean, "Black Jeopardy" host Darnell Hayes and Diondre Cole, the disruptive singing talk show host on the wildly popular sketch "What Up With That." In 2018, he received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for the "SNL" song "Come Back, Barack" and was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2018 and 2020. Thompson also received an Emmy nomination in 2017 for co-writing "Last Christmas" from the popular "Jingle Barack" sketch.

Thompson served as producer and judge alongside Chrissy Teigen, Jeff Foxworthy and Amanda Seales on NBC's comedy competition series "Bring the Funny," which debuted summer 2019.

A native of Atlanta, Thompson made his television debut as a member of Nickelodeon's all-kid sketch comedy series "All That." Thompson now serves as an executive producer on Nickelodeon's 2019 "All That" reboot. He and Kel Mitchell debuted on the spinoff "Kenan and Kel" in 1996. Thompson also had a recurring role on the WB's "Felicity."

His past projects include Netflix's Adam Sandler film "Hubie Halloween," starring opposite Samuel L. Jackson in "Snakes on a Plane," "Wieners" and "The Magic of Belle Isle" with Morgan Freeman. Other feature film credits include "Fat Albert," "D2: The Mighty Ducks," "Good Burger," "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle," "Brother Nature, "Heavyweights," "My Boss's Daughter," "Barbershop 2," "Going in Style" and "They Came Together."

Thompson showcased his voice talents as Bricklebaum in "The Grinch," which made history as the #1 Christmas movie of all time. Thompson has also lent his voice to the animated films "Trolls World Tour," "Wonder Park," "The Smurfs," "The Smurfs 2" and "Space Chimps," the television series "Sit Down, Shut Up" and the Kobe Bryant/LeBron James Nike puppet campaign during the 2009 NBA playoffs. He was the voice of Austin "Impresario" Sullivan in the Hulu animated series "The Awesomes" and Riff in the film "Rock Dog."

Upcoming projects include Paramount's "Clifford the Big Red Dog" and the Disney+ "Home Alone" reboot.