This could be Jason Sudeikis’ biggest year on Saturday Night Live, since his impersonation of presidential candidate Mitt Romney will be in high demand. Except the actor might be ready to move on to other projects.
In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, Sudeikis admits, “You start at SNL when you’re young and hungry, but I don’t want my pro years to be my SNL years. This is me getting to play for KU or Duke or North Carolina, with pro-caliber people, but I don’t want this to be it.”
In a perfect world, Sudeikis would have time to work on SNL but still retain the chance to work on other projects, like his new film, The Campaign (costarring fellow SNL alum Will Ferrell). “I’d like the opportunity to use creative muscles that…haven’t been asked of me for the first nine years that I’ve worked there,” he said. “It could be some sort of title change. The least of the concerns is anything financial. I’m not buying a boat because of writing skits. It’s more having a desire to give more to a place I really believe in. To stay just for the juice of being in the public eye—of being Mitt Romney—is not enough.”
Sudeikis was hired as a sketch writer for the show back in 2003; after two years, he started appearing onscreen. The 36-year-old portrays Romney, but doesn’t pour time into the impersonation (like Darrell Hammond did with Bill Clinton or Tina Fey with her famous Sarah Palin skits.) “I usually just watch something for a couple minutes,” he said. “I’ll be more inclined to read something about someone and figure out what external influences make him who he is or what he is than poring over tapes.”
The actor will have to decide whether to return to the long-running sketch show before new episodes shoot in the fall. But fans can see him in The Campaign, which opens Friday.
