Kate McKinnon’s Best Impressions Ever

Lydia Price
Updated
Garnering a whooping 11 Emmy nominations, Saturday Night Live gave a slew of comedians a platform to showcase their unique, wide-ranging talents in the show's 43rd season

Saturday Night Live‘s resident chameleon Kate McKinnon seems to have no limitations when it comes to the art of imitation.

The actress has impersonated reality TV stars, world leaders and everyone in between, never failing to impress with her expert balance of accuracy and comedic twists. Below, 10 of the most memorable personalities she’s taken on so far.

Jeff Sessions

In a February Saturday Night Live cold open, McKinnon held her own next to Melissa McCarthy’s flawless Sean Spicer impersonation with an uncannily faithful take on Alabama-born Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Although it was a brief debut, we’re hopeful that season 42 of SNL will include plenty more Sessions screen time.

Justin Bieber

McKinnon’s take on the popstar’s sexy underwear commercials with Lara Stone is nothing short of iconic. The comedy queen has played Bieber in a number of other SNL sketches, including “Celebrity Jeopardy.”

Angela Merkel

The accent pro reprised her role as the German chancellor after Donald Trump was chosen as Merkel’s TIME Person of the Year successor. “It kind of undermines the honor for me. It’s like winning the Nobel prize for physics and then the next year they give it to Hoobastank,” “Merkel” joked on “Weekend Update.”

Jessa Johansson (Jemima Kirke) from Girls

Even next to scene-stealer Tina Fey, McKinnon made her mark with a spot-on portrayal of the irreverent Brit.

Hillary Clinton

Tuning in to see McKinnon as Democratic nominee Clinton was a bright spot in the 2016 presidential election. The actress came face-to-face with the woman herself in one of the most memorable Clinton sketches, in which the politician plays a wise bartender named Val. “I need to blow off some steam. I’ve hard couple of 22 years,” the (fake) Clinton jokes in the skit.

Ellen DeGeneres

DeGeneres got to confront McKinnon about her SNL impression on her talk show. “It’s weird to have somebody do impressions of you because when you hear it you’re like, ‘Well, that’s such an exaggeration. I mean it’s funny, but it doesn’t sound like me at all,'” DeGeneres said in her monologue. But it wasn’t long before McKinnon showed up in character to prove just how accurate her take on the host truly is.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

McKinnon adds a healthy serving of spice to the Supreme Court Justice when she puts on the black robes, doing an incredible job of emulating Ginsburg’s unique voice and delivering sick “Gins-burns.”

Theresa Caputo

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McKinnon brought grieving loved ones some peace as the SNL version of the Long Island Medium. Caputo gave her stamp of approval to McKinnon’s impersonation, and tweeted out a clip from her Live with Kelly & Michael appearance.

Carol Aird (Cate Blanchett) from Carol

In honor of the 2016 Film Independent Awards, McKinnon joined Kumail Nanjiani in parodying the critically acclaimed romance film. Opening yourself up to Blanchett comparisons is quite a bold move, but the risk definitely worked out in McKinnon’s favor.

Kellyanne Conway

McKinnon relates the supposed struggles of the campaign manager turned presidential counselor in hilarious fashion. She’s delivered impressive SNL performances as Conway in everything from “A Day Off” to a Fatal Attraction-esque skit.