1978–present
Who Is Kenan Thompson?
Comedian and actor Kenan Thompson is the longest-tenured cast member of Saturday Night Live in history. Since joining the sketch comedy show in 2003, he has received five Primetime Emmy nominations, winning one in 2018 for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. Prior to joining SNL, Thompson was a child actor starring in Nickelodeon’s kid-friendly comedy shows and movies such as Kenan & Kel, All That, and Good Burger.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Kenan Thompson
BORN: May 10, 1978
BIRTHPLACE: Columbus, Ohio
SPOUSE: Christina Evangeline (2011–2022)
CHILDREN: Georgia and Gianna
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Taurus
Early Life
Kenan Thompson was born on May 10, 1978 in Columbus, Ohio, to Fletcher Thompson, a helicopter mechanic-turned-realtor, and Elizabeth Ann Thompson, a nurse anesthetist who goes by her middle name. Kenan has an older brother, Kerwin, and a younger sister, Feleecia.
The Thompson family moved to Atlanta when Kenan was 9 months old. Young Kenan had a creative and independent personality, according to his mother. “He didn’t need constant attention where I had to hold him or reassure him all the time… he had his instructions, he would follow them and do his thing,” she told The Repository in 2019.
Kenan played sports growing up and began taking acting classes at age 5. One of his first roles was playing the titular character in a kindergarten class play of The Gingerbread Man. He also portrayed Toto the dog in a church production of The Wiz, the musical inspired by L. Frank Baum’s classic novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Kenan developed an early fascination for television, with comedy emerging as one of his favorite genres. He frequently watched the sitcoms The Facts of Life, The Cosby Show, and Family Ties, as well as the The Price Is Right hosted by Bob Barker.
Thompson attended Tri-Cities High School, a magnet program school specializing in the performing arts, in the Atlanta suburb of East Point. He graduated in 1996, but by that point, was already an established child actor.
Nickelodeon Years
Thompson auditioned more than 100 times before finally receiving his first on camera part at age 10, appearing in a commercial for Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken that earned him $800. “I didn’t know what to compare it to, because I’d never been paid more than a dollar to go get some candy or s—,” he told Vanity Fair of the experience.
Realizing the lucrative benefits of acting, Thompson looked to join more prominent projects. He served as a correspondent for CNN’s Real News for Kids before getting his first movie credit as wise-cracking hockey player Russ Tyler in D2: The Mighty Ducks (1994). Thompson returned for the third installment in the trilogy, D3: The Mighty Ducks (1996).
During his time working on the Mighty Ducks franchise, Thompson met producers at the children’s TV network Nickelodeon. In 1994, he made his Nickelodeon debut on All That, a sketch comedy show for kids, at age 16. He appeared in 86 episodes of the show through 2000 and performed alongside budding stars such as Amanda Bynes and Kel Mitchell.
The latter teamed up with Thompson for the separate Nickelodeon sitcom Kenan & Kel, which aired for four seasons, and the 1997 comedy movie Good Burger, based on an All That sketch of the same name. The real-life friends, who later had a prolonged falling out and didn’t speak for years, reunited for the 2023 direct-to-streaming sequel Good Burger 2.
Thompson continued to primarily appear in family-friendly movies such as The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000), featuring Robert De Niro; Big Fat Liar (2002); and The Master of Disguise (2002). He was also in four episodes of the coming-of-age drama series Felicity, starring Keri Russell. However, the actor was ready to prove he could make comedy for adults and eyed a career-defining TV role.
Saturday Night Live
In 2003, Thompson debuted on the NBC sketch comedy Saturday Night Live as a featured player. He was promoted to repertory cast member, claiming a permanent spot on the show, within two years and has remained on SNL ever since. As of January 2025, Thompson’s run of 22 seasons is the longest in SNL history.
Thompson told Vanity Fair in 2019 he sent audition tapes to the show for a couple years following his success with Nickelodeon but was told he looked too young for the cast. Finally, at age 25, he earned an official tryout that he admits felt awkward because he didn’t have a standup comedy background. “I basically started doing sound effects and a phone call between [Al] Sharpton and [Arnold] Schwarzenegger for some odd reason. It was funny to me, but I had no setup, so everybody was just kind of lost,” he said. Despite this, Thompson received a callback and eventually did get the part.
One of his best known skits is the recurring segment “Black Jeopardy,” in which he hosts a spoof version of the popular trivia game show. Thompson also performs in many music-based skits. His collaboration with Chris Redd and Chance the Rapper on “Come Back, Barack”, a song about former President Barack Obama, earned Thompson a 2018 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics.
The SNL stalwart, who eclipsed Darrell Hammond’s previous record of 14 seasons in 2017, doesn’t have a set timeline for his departure from the show. “I think you stay as long as you are welcome and you don’t really feel like you’re not growing in any capacity. Once I feel stalemated, it’ll probably be a very clear indication that I need something else or something like that,” he told Fatherly in January 2023. “It’ll just be... an inevitability of time. It’ll just be my time to move on, I guess. Hopefully, they won’t kick me out.”
More Movies and TV Shows
Thompson has also maintained a regular presence outside of Studio 8H, where SNL is broadcast, during his show tenure. He played the titular character in the 2004 comedy Fat Albert and appeared in movies including Snakes on a Plane (2006); The Magic of Belle Isle (2012), starring Morgan Freeman; Going in Style (2017); Hubie Halloween (2020) with Adam Sandler; and Clifford the Big Red Dog (2021). Thompson also lent his voice to the animated features The Smurfs (2011) and its ensuing sequel, as well as The Grinch (2018), Trolls World Tour (2020), and Trolls Band Together (2023).
In 2021, Thompson landed his own sitcom, Kenan, playing the lead character in the self-titled show. The actor received praise for his turn as a widowed father of two and morning show host and earned a sixth Emmy nomination, for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. However, the NBC show lasted only two seasons before its cancellation in 2022.
Other TV roles for Thompson have included voice parts in the animated shows The Awesomes, Nature Cat, and Praise Petey, as well as four episodes on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, starring Ellie Kemper, and a featured spot in the 2016 variety show Maya & Marty featuring Maya Rudolph and Martin Short. In September 2022, Thompson hosted the Emmy Awards.
Ex-Wife and Children
Thompson was married to model and interior designer Christina Evangeline for more than a decade. The couple wed in November 2011 and had two children together prior to their separation.
In June 2022, TMZ reported Thompson had officially filed for divorce and requested a 50/50 custody split for their daughters, Georgia and Gianna, according to court documents. The actor has revealed few details about the end of his marriage, telling Today he “didn’t want to speak out of turn on people who aren’t there to tell their version of the story.”
Georgia, born in June 2014, and Gianna, born in July 2018, accompanied their dad when Thompson received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in August 2022. The actor has said his daughters have helped him become more patient and understand his own emotions.
“They taught me, like, it’s OK to feel these feelings kind of thing and, like, understand what may be causing them and kinda work through it,” he told morning radio show The Breakfast Club. “But also, like, the perspective of a child, because we go around kinda looking and not really seeing the world, maybe just because we’re seeing it at our height, you know what I mean? When you’re smaller, you see probably a bigger picture and stuff like that.”
Net Worth
Celebrity Net Worth has estimated Thompson earns $2 million to $3 million per season of SNL. That’s at least four times higher than other multi-year cast members, thanks to his long tenure. As a result, his total net worth is valued at around $9 million as of December 2024.
However, Thompson didn’t amass his fortune without hardship. As he revealed in his 2023 book When I Was Your Age—a memoir-in-essays about his childhood, career, and experience as a parent—the actor had to file for bankruptcy during his 20s after a former accountant stole $1 million from him and didn’t pay Thompson’s taxes. “Like, it’s humbling when, you know, people in the McDonald’s drive-through line recognize you and then they also recognize that you’re paying for a meal with change,” he explained to NPR’s Fresh Air.
Quotes
- I mean, I realized that cute and funny was what I had going early.
- I’m really not necessarily introverted, I just tend to stay very chill. It’s the Taurus in me.
- Family is important and your support system, and your community is important. Stay true and stay close to those that know you best.
- On his favorite SNL sketches: I definitely like silly. The sillier, the better. I like the political pieces as well, but sometimes, you just want to relax and laugh.
Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn’t look right, contact us!
Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.
