Kenan Thompson on his Saturday Night Live future

Kenan Thompson is the longest-tenured cast member in the history of Saturday Night Live and with that, of course, should come plenty of praise. However, in this modern era it also means plenty of questions surrounding whether or not he will be a part of the series long-term. Everyone does eventually decide to leave the show eventually and at some point, that time will come for Kenan. We just don’t want it to come anytime soon because he’s actually become funnier as he’s settled in more to the elder statesman role. He’s not out to prove anything; he’s just a utility player who can come in and save any sketch at almost any given moment.

The good news is this — for now, it doesn’t seem as though Kenan is 100% ready to leave just yet. With that being said, he did tell The Hollywood Reporter that some of the thoughts are now entering his mind more than they have in the past:

I think about leaving and I fear it. This is such a special place, you want to do your part here, but you also want to make room for people that are coming behind you. This was the first year I really started feeling like, “OK, I could push out of it now.” Chris Redd is super-duper strong, and I really look forward to his potential on the show. That was the first time I thought, “Maybe I should give this dude more room.” If that’s the case, then it might be time to move on.

What we will say here is this: If Kenan ever does leave, we hope that the SNL producers really put out all of the stops in hopes of giving him a fitting tribute. He’s an iconic member of the series’ cast and he may not get some of the honors that he deserves elsewhere. For example, it’s still somewhat baffling to imagine that he has never been nominated for an acting Emmy. (He was nominated in a writing capacity last year.)

Related – Check out our full Emmy Hopefuls piece about Kenan

Do you want to see Kenan stick around SNL for many more years? Be sure to share some of your thoughts right away in the attached comments!

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