How Andy Samberg Feels About Playing Kamala Harris’ Husband Doug Emhoff on Saturday Night Live

Live from New York it’s Andy Samberg feeling the nerves again.

The Saturday Night Live alum recently went back to Studio 8H to portray Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff for the NBC comedy show’s election coverage during season 50. But his seven years of experience on SNL have not made his return much easier.

"It's been fun, I gotta say,” Samberg said on the Oct. 28 episode of The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast. “It's been really fun going back, but again, also inheriting—re-inheriting—the stress of it and being like, 'Oh, right, this is intense.’”

But the 46-year-old noted that he and fellow alum Maya Rudolph—who has returned to play the democratic presidential nominee—agree that the anxiety isn’t as bad as their original run on the show.

“Me and Maya have been talking about [how] it’s a little bit more mellow because we know why we’re there specifically,” he continued, noting that a moment from Oct. 19 left him particularly nervous. “I was like, ‘If this Beetlejuice thing doesn’t work, I’m just going to be here and not do anything.’ And that puts you right back in the feeling of being a cast member—of, you’re always at risk.” 

(ICYMI, he joined host Michael Keaton for his opening monologue. "Hey, don't you normally play Doug Emhoff in the cold opens?" Keaton asked, to which Samberg replied, “Yeah the writers couldn't jam him in. So, here we find ourselves!")

Back in 2012, after seven seasons on the show, the Brooklyn Nine-Nine star took his final bow as part of the late night show’s cast. 

“For me, it was like, ‘I can't actually endure it anymore,’” Samberg said on a July episode of Hart to Heart. “But I didn't want to leave.”

“Physically, it was taking a heavy toll on me and I got to a place where I was like I hadn’t slept in seven years basically,” he added. “We were writing stuff for the live show Tuesday night all night, the table read Wednesday, then being told, ‘Now come up with a digital short.’ So, write all Thursday, all Thursday night, don’t sleep, get up, shoot Friday, edit all night Friday night and into Saturday.”

After four days of little sleep, he admitted, “I just kinda fell apart physically.”

Keep reading to see who else is part of Saturday Night Live's 2024 presidential election cast.

(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.) 

The former SNL cast member reprised her guest role of Vice President Kamala Harris on the premiere of the NBC sketch series' 50th season Sept. 28, 2024, just over a month before the U.S. Presidential election, which will see the Democratic party candidate face off against former President Donald Trump.

The actor, also a former SNL cast member who famously played former President George H.W. Bush on the show in the '80s and '90s, returned to the series for its 50th season premiere to play President Joe Biden (an impression he first debuted on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in 2021).

Fellow SNL alum joined the actress in the Cold Open sketch to play Harris' husband Doug Emhoff.

The comedian made his SNL debut on the episode as Harris' running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Johnson reprised his Trump character on the episode while Yang made his debut as the Republican leader's running mate, J.D. Vance.