Jim Carrey to play Joe Biden on new 'Saturday Night Live' season
Jim Carrey is set to play former vice president and presidential hopeful Joe Biden on the upcoming season of "Saturday Night Live" -- and he'll do it before a live in-studio audience.
The Golden Globe-winning comedian is the latest non-cast member to portray a political figure, with Alec Baldwin's portrayal of President Donald Trump being a recent standout. Baldwin won an Emmy for this role in 2017.
Former cast member Jason Sudeikis, who was on the show from 2005 to 2013, played Biden both when he was on the cast and as recently as this February.
Carrey has hosted the iconic sketch comedy show three times: in May 1996, January 2011 and October 2014.
Season 46 of "SNL" premieres Oct. 3, beginning a planned run of five consecutive episodes. After the premiere, episodes will air Oct. 10, Oct. 17, Oct. 24 and Oct. 31.
The previous season was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Production temporarily halted on March 16 and resumed April 11 with three remotely produced episodes dubbed "Saturday Night Live at Home" airing.
The season officially came to a close on May 9, bringing the episode total for the season to 18. It was the shortest season since the Writer's Guild of America strike cut season 33 short, airing just 12 episodes.
The show plans to have a limited in-studio audience and will work with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's team to follow safety guidelines for the upcoming season.
Additionally, "SNL" has added three featured players to its cast for season 46: Andrew Dismukes, Lauren Holt and Punkie Johnson.
