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Kate McKinnon Breaks Down, and Breaks Character, as Dr. Wenowdis on ‘Weekend Update’

Ryan Lattanzio
·2 min read

One of the spontaneous joys of any “Saturday Night Live” episode is when a player loses it during a gag and totally breaks character. That’s what happened on Saturday night between cast members Kate McKinnon and Colin Jost during the weekly segment of “Weekend Update.” In the sketch, McKinnon stars as “Dr. Wayne Wenowdis” (“that’s Greek for ‘we know this”), who’s tasked with giving “Weekend Update” host Jost a second opinion about the current health state of President Donald Trump, whom the White House claims is no longer contagious with the coronavirus. Watch below.

McKinnon hilariously broke down once her character offered Jost a live, on-camera health exam, in reference to the Fox News medical evaluation Trump received last weekend on air. McKinnon’s performance prompted Jost to break character, asking, “Kate, are you alright?” “Obviously I’m not,” the actress responded.

McKinnon then addressed the audience, breaking the fourth wall. “I’m sorry, It’s such a crazy time that I started doing this to cope. I have a lot of wigs and mustaches at my disposal and that’s a nice way to escape it’s refreshing to play a character…who know this,” she said. “Who will win the election, we don’t know this. When will the pandemic end, this we don’t know this. What will happen to the world, we do not know this.”

The “Weekend Update” spot was one of my many politically charged sketches throughout the episode, hosted by comedian Bill Burr. The second episode of Season 46 kicked with a cold open reenacting last week’s Vice Presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence, featuring Jim Carrey as Democratic presidential nominee but also, curiously, as “The Fly” from David Cronenberg’s sci-fi movie starring Jeff Goldblum, in a bizarre mashup of movie and meme in reference to the fly that lingered on Mike Pence’s head during the debate. Guest Maya Rudolph reprised her role as Rudolph, with cast regular Beck Bennett starring as Mike Pence.

Next week’s episode will be hosted by “Insecure” creator Issa Rae, with musical guest Justin Bieber joining the gang in Studio 8H.

Check out the “Weekend Update” sketch featuring McKinnon and Jost below.

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