Who Is Hosting the Emmys 2022? Everything Kenan Thompson Has Said About Hosting

Credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Who Is Hosting the Emmys 2022? Everything Kenan Thompson Has Said About Hosting

A first-time host. Kenan Thompson will make his debut as the 74th annual Primetime Emmy Awards host on Monday, September 12. The Saturday Night Live star, 44, follows Cedric the Entertainer and Jimmy Kimmel, who hosted in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Many of his SNL costars — including Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Andy Samberg, Michael Che and Colin Jost — have been emcees for the Television Academy's biggest night too. “Everyone’s got to do it once, and it’s his turn, he’s earned it,” Meyers told Variety in August. “The good news is Kenan, like I was, is lucky enough to be connected to a talented group of writers. The SNL writing staff, I’m sure, is going to show up for Kenan because he has been showing up for them and their sketches, getting laughs on looks and line reads for two decades.” The Atlanta native started acting as a child. He got his big break on Nickelodeon's All That, a kid-friendly sketch comedy show, in 1994. One of his hit sketches spawned the Good Burger movie. He also starred in the network's sitcom Kenan & Kel from 1996 to 2000. He landed on SNL in 2003, starting a historic run on the late-night show. Thompson has spent more than 20 years on SNL, making him the cast member with the longest tenure, and he has starred in over 1,500 sketches. He won his first Emmy in 2018 (for his Saturday Night Live track "Come Back Barack") and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last month, which was placed right next to creator Lorne Michaels. Despite his accomplishments, he still finds himself feeling fretful ahead of the Emmys. He wants the awards show, which will air live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on NBC at 8 p.m. ET., to be a good night for everyone involved. [jwplayer csTVucKt-zhNYySv2] "Right now I have nerves about it when I think about just because it's a huge night," Thompson told Nerds of Color on Friday, September 9. "It's television's biggest night, you know what I'm saying? And it's not like I have small shoes to fill. Like, there have been some incredible hosts in previous years and stuff like that. So I just want to be of that. Caliber and move the night along and get it done. I know it's a stressful thing for pretty much everybody that's there, so I think it's my job to keep it light and keep it going." Scroll down to see everything Thompson has said about hosting the 2022 Emmys:

Credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Who Is Hosting the Emmys 2022? Everything Kenan Thompson Has Said About Hosting

A first-time host. Kenan Thompson will make his debut as the 74th annual Primetime Emmy Awards host on Monday, September 12. The Saturday Night Live star, 44, follows Cedric the Entertainer and Jimmy Kimmel, who hosted in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Many of his SNL costars — including Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Andy Samberg, Michael Che and Colin Jost — have been emcees for the Television Academy's biggest night too. “Everyone’s got to do it once, and it’s his turn, he’s earned it,” Meyers told Variety in August. “The good news is Kenan, like I was, is lucky enough to be connected to a talented group of writers. The SNL writing staff, I’m sure, is going to show up for Kenan because he has been showing up for them and their sketches, getting laughs on looks and line reads for two decades.” The Atlanta native started acting as a child. He got his big break on Nickelodeon's All That, a kid-friendly sketch comedy show, in 1994. One of his hit sketches spawned the Good Burger movie. He also starred in the network's sitcom Kenan & Kel from 1996 to 2000. He landed on SNL in 2003, starting a historic run on the late-night show. Thompson has spent more than 20 years on SNL, making him the cast member with the longest tenure, and he has starred in over 1,500 sketches. He won his first Emmy in 2018 (for his Saturday Night Live track "Come Back Barack") and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last month, which was placed right next to creator Lorne Michaels. Despite his accomplishments, he still finds himself feeling fretful ahead of the Emmys. He wants the awards show, which will air live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on NBC at 8 p.m. ET., to be a good night for everyone involved. [jwplayer csTVucKt-zhNYySv2] "Right now I have nerves about it when I think about just because it's a huge night," Thompson told Nerds of Color on Friday, September 9. "It's television's biggest night, you know what I'm saying? And it's not like I have small shoes to fill. Like, there have been some incredible hosts in previous years and stuff like that. So I just want to be of that. Caliber and move the night along and get it done. I know it's a stressful thing for pretty much everybody that's there, so I think it's my job to keep it light and keep it going." Scroll down to see everything Thompson has said about hosting the 2022 Emmys:

Credit: Dan Steinberg/AP/Shutterstock

On Having Enough Time to Write Emmys Jokes

“We’ll be fine,” the 2022 Emmys host told Variety in August. “I don’t have to do much, a couple of good jokes throughout the night, basically. It’s not like I’m going to be doing stand-up. I just want to celebrate creative people in this business that make these moments possible.”

Credit: Chris Haston/NBC

On Creating a Good Opening

“I think we need to open with a bang.... [and] there’s some ideas cooking on that level. But whatever it is, it has got to be tight, and it can’t seem like it’s just there to fill time,” he said during a press conference earlier this month. “We have [the viewers'] attention. It’d better be worth having.”

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On the Tone of His Emmys Jokes

“You know, I’m not going out there like hurting anybody’s feelings for the sake of other people laughing,” he told Deadline in September. “We’re supposed to all be laughing together, even that person the joke is about.”

Thompson continued, “This being a roasting opportunity kind of night, a lot of people expect to hear that.” Thompson said his approach is “more so about the zeitgeist about what’s going on, maybe like the jokes are about the shows or the different platforms. Because it’s bigger than a famous person who’s having a moment, because it’s a room full of famous people.”

Credit: Will Heath/NBC

How 'SNL' Prepared Thompson to Host the Emmys

"A large majority of [cast members] are usually improv people, so they're used to just firing off," he told Entertainment Weekly in August. "Whatever you say triggers a reaction from them. So SNL taught me to always be ready, always be thinking. Especially when you're around those kinds of people."

Credit: Will Heath/NBC

On Why He Won't Ask 'SNL' costars for More Help

"I don’t think you can ever satisfy people’s advice. And I just want to share credit with the writers and producers and not anyone outside of that group — I want to prove to myself that I can do it," he told The Hollywood Reporter in September.