Maya Rudolph is visibly moved about playing Kamala Harris on SNL

No matter what happens in November, Kamala Harris’ presidential candidacy has already had a profound impact. Choosing to (mostly) sideline the jokes in an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night, Maya Rudolph got candid with guest host RuPaul about what the chance to play the sitting Vice President has truly meant to her.

“Okay, interesting that you brought this up because no one’s asked me,” Rudolph joked, before getting earnest. “I have never experienced anything like this before in any of the work I’ve ever done,” she said. “I mean, I played her on the show already, but the minute it was announced that she was running, I think I was at home watching The Bear and it was, like, announced that I was confirmed doing SNL. I was like, ‘I did what?’ Everybody’s just ready for it, which was such a wonderful [thing].”

“I would never have believed you if you said, ‘Hey, one day you’re going to be playing the presidential candidate,’” she continued. “For me to think that I have anything to do with this by association is mindblowing. I spent so many years on SNL watching other people play presidential candidates and thinking, you know, there’s no one that resembles me in the race. To think that we’re here now, and to think that I would ever be close by association is so incredible.”

While Rudolph has wholeheartedly accepted her own nomination (at the expense of the third season of Loot, which has been temporarily put on the back burner), she and Lorne Michaels might need to run a similar race to cast her VP. While Steve Martin was the obvious choice to play Minnesota Governor and hard-shell taco enjoyer Tim Walz, the veteran comedian recently turned the gig down, citing the fact that he’s “not an impressionist.” Maybe Rudolph will get to turn a relatively unknown player into an overnight sensation just like her vice-presidential counterpart did with Walz earlier this month.