“SNL”'s James Austin Johnson is voicing 'the ultimate Grinch' in a festive new podcast

James Austin Johnson is heading from Saturday Night Live to Whoville.

EW can exclusively reveal that the SNL comedian, best known for his spot-on presidential impressions of Donald Trump and Joe Biden, will be voicing the Grinch in a festive new podcast from Wondery. With an official title of 'Tis the Grinch Holiday Talk Show, the series will follow Dr. Seuss' iconic green miser as he sits down with celebrity guests to talk all things Christmassy. (Check out the trailer above.)

Since Seuss' book was published in 1957, the Grinch has crossed over to films, TV specials, and video games, so perhaps it was only a matter of time before he got into podcasting. (Past Grinch actors include Boris Karloff, Jim Carrey, and Benedict Cumberbatch.) The show will also feature a number of celebrity guests, including SNL alum Bobby Moynihan, comedian Patton Oswalt, actress Skai Jackson, WWE superstar Cody Rhodes, and Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson East. The series will premiere Nov. 1 on Wondery+, before going wide Nov. 6 with new episodes releasing weekly.

EW spoke to Johnson in between SNL rehearsals, where he broke down his take on the cuddly-as-a-cactus villain — and the surprising similarities between his Grinch and his Biden. (Watch exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of him getting into character below.)

Mary Ellen Matthews/NBC;Courtesy Everett Collection James Austin Johnson will voice the Grinch in 'Tis the Grinch Holiday Talk Show.'

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: A lot of iconic actors have played the Grinch. Did you have any trepidation about stepping into those furry green shoes?

JAMES AUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, he's an icon. I think the Grinch is bigger than all of us as actors. [Laughs] It's a little intimidating, but it's also familiar. It's something that's within us all. Everyone has had a day where you have had a couple of iced coffees, and you forget to eat breakfast, and you think about one negative thing, and it just becomes your entire personality. We've all been there.

What's the secret to the perfect Grinch voice?

It's a mix of a lot of things. With this podcast, you're hearing the Grinch talk a lot more than you've heard him talk in the past. And that's fun to me: It's right up my alley to do characters and get to live it in for a nice length of time, instead of just a couple lines here and there.

How is the Grinch as a talk show host?

I would say there's a little… I wouldn't say Dick Cavett, but I feel like the Grinch is a fan of the 1970s era of talk shows. I think he probably thinks of himself as a Charlie Rose type, but in reality, he's a raving lunatic. He's not quite as straight-laced as that. When he actually starts talking, he goes off on these little rants about all the seasonal stuff that drives him mad.

Jim Carrey famously played the Grinch, and he also portrayed Joe Biden on SNL, before you took over. Tell me a little bit about your approach to the perfect Biden impression.

With Biden, it's quiet. [Whispers] "Jobs, family, security." First, it's a slow rumble, sort of like a storm is gathering. Then, that storm breaks and crashes and explodes, and he just starts yelling out of nowhere. Those are the two speeds. He can be real low and quiet and lull you in, and then he explodes with righteousness. So, going back and forth between those two poles is something that I find fun to do with the character.

I found that I could bring some of that dynamism to the Grinch, too. He has a low, quiet rage, and when he's feeling kind of sassy and chatty, he gets a little bit higher. I definitely felt inspired by all the Grinches. There's times when I'm rumbling, like Benedict Cumberbatch, who was famously Smaug the dragon [in The Hobbit movies] and spoke very low. And then there's the Jim Carrey Grinch, who has a higher and more sort of Looney Tunes approach to mayhem. So, I'm finding layers to the other Grinches and using them to Voltron myself into what I consider the ultimate Grinch. [Laughs]

I know that Wondery reached out to you about the Grinch after seeing some of your social media videos. Your Trump impression first took off after you started posting clips online, long before you joined SNL. I'm curious: What's been different about doing the social media videos of Trump, versus doing Trump on Saturday Night Live, one of the most watched comedy shows ever?

Yeah. I mean, when I was just walking around making videos, I was just goofing off and being silly with my friends. Then I got to SNL and started doing Trump sketches, and it still felt like goofing off with my friends It definitely has more eyes on it, and more people get to see it on the show than when I was just walking around with my phone. But it really does just feel like I'm having fun with my comedy friends.

It definitely has different stakes or a higher expectation, maybe. But the videos that eventually led to me getting to do cool stuff like SNL, I was just making those to entertain my coworkers. When I worked in a warehouse in L.A., folding hoodies for rappers and rock bands, I was just doing Trump to them to make them laugh. And now, I just want to make everyone laugh in the office at SNL. That's where the funniest stuff happens, when you're just hanging out with your friends.

Of all the SNL hosts you've worked with so far, what's been the most memorable experience?

Well, my first episode was also Owen Wilson's first episode. It was his first episode hosting, and it was my first episode ever, after being hired a couple weeks before. So, we both learned how to read cue cards at the same time. We basically just learned how to do SNL at the same time. We happened to be in a couple sketches together, so we chatted, and we bonded over the new guy thing. That ended up being close to the best week of my life, second only to the birth of my child and my wedding. It was an incredible time for me to get to learn SNL and for my buddy through it to be movie star Owen Wilson. That first episode for me is frozen in time.

As you kick off SNL season 49, is there an impression you haven't done yet that you're dying to get on the show?

You know what? I love those old text-to-speech voices on old Mac computers. Do you know what I'm talking about?

Yes! I grew up with an old Mac.

So, you know how sometimes your battery would be running low? My favorite voice was Bruce. If you picked Bruce, it would be like, [adopts computerized voice] "Please plug in your MacBook." I'm dying to play Bruce from the Mac OS from the '90s. One day I will write the perfect sketch for Bruce from Mac OS, and it's going to blow everyone's mind. The minute the world hears this Bruce voice, it's over.

I anxiously await that future sketch.

We'll see. There's always next week!

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Watch exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of Johnson getting into character above and the trailer for Tis the Grinch Holiday Talk Show at the top of this post.

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