Now that Maya Rudolph has cleared her schedule in order to reprise her Emmy-winning role as Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday Night Live, speculation has begun to swirl about who would be best suited to play her newly announced running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on SNL.
If you’ve seen SNL vet Steve Martin’s name trending on X/Twitter today, that’s why.
Thanks to the remarkable similarity in appearance between both men — as well as the folksy appeal that Martin displays naturally, which would barely have to be repurposed at all to match Walz’s — the internet has pretty much already decided that the current star of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building is the perfect person to play the Walz to Rudolph’s Harris.
“SNL get Steve Martin on the phone NOW,” one X user demanded, in a tweet that’s been seen 1.5 million times as of this writing. Adds another, which has been seen more than 2 million times, “so Steve Martin is definitely gonna play Walz on SNL right.”
Another X user went so far as to note that the Walz home in Minnesota looks like the house from one of Martin’s most beloved films. “Not only does Tim Walz look like Steve Martin, his house looks like the Father of the Bride House,” their tweet reads.
As a reminder, Rudolph introduced her impersonation of Walz’s new boss during the cold open for the SNL episode on Dec. 21, 2019, hosted by Eddie Murphy. She only had a few lines during the presidential debate depicted in that cold open, but Rudolph would go on to win an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series the following year for her portrayal. One would hope, however, that when she dives back into the role so unburdened by what has been.
