Sad-sounding Keegan-Michael Key confirms he really misses Jordan Peele

Keegan-Michael Key is making the press rounds right now, connected to his new (surprisingly well-reviewed) animated Transformers move, Transformers One. Which means, inevitably, that Key’s getting asked questions about his long relationship with comedian and director Jordan Peele, because that is what happens when you ampersand-up with a guy for nearly four years of very good sketch comedy on Comedy Central. What’s interesting about Key’s responses, though—in an interview with People—is how genuinely wistful it sounds, remarking that “We don’t see each other that often anymore. Which is, to me, a tragedy.”

And, like, we know it is not healthy, objectively speaking, to get too emotionally invested in the actual “these are human beings” relationships between creators, including, and maybe especially, those who have collaborated so heavily in the past. (Before creating Key & Peele together, the pair met on the set of MadTV; they later made the action-comedy Keanu together, and most recently starred in Henry Selick’s Netflix stop-motion animation project Wendell & Wild.) Still, though, hearing Key remark that “Your lives start to evolve and move in different directions” about his old friend made us get a genuine, tiny pang. (That moving is literal, in their cases, since Peele lives in Los Angeles, while Key is based out of New York.) “Our evolution, I think, is tied to both of what our desires are,” Key told People. “His desire was to start exploring the horror genre, and my desire was to do more dramatic work like I had been trained in school.” (Key even asserts that you can see the evolution between them if you go back and watch Key & Peele, noting that, “I was playing the clown more and doing more physical comedy in the beginning of our time together, and then I found myself evolving into playing more of the straight roles and teeing up Jordan to play the clown.”)

Again: We don’t presume to suggest that the gentle cooling of a long-time friendship between two very famous guys is world-important news. But it is interesting, if you’ve ever had a friendship of many years die down a bit because you’re no longer working as creative partners, to see that same genuine sadness get reflected back from such famous collaborators. Famouses: They’re just like us, especially when they’re sad.