Our five favorite Maya Rudolph impersonations and impressions
Maya Rudolph predictably stole the show when she returned to host Saturday Night Live over the weekend, reviving her beloved Beyoncé and Kamala Harris impersonations.
Rudolph first joined SNL as a cast member in 2000—ruling Studio 8H with fellow comedienne legends such as Tiny Fey, Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig, Rachel Dratch, Molly Shannon, and so many more. Everybody is uniquely funny, but nobody can hold a candle to Rudolph's ability to impersonate.
"There's that thing of like, 'She could read the phone book and it'd be funny!'" Fey told Caity Weaver for a 2018 New York Times profile aptly titled "How Maya Rudolph Became the Master of Impressions." "But she really could. And it's not like she's trying to act funny. ... It's just, she is so inherently—she'll make a choice to be some strange person that lives in her imagination, and it will just come out funny."
Whether strange fictional person or some of the most famous women in the world, Rudolph is always spot-on. Below are five of the funniest Rudolph impersonations and impressions over the years. (Honorable mentions are these Halle Berry, Rachel Dolezal and Gwen Stefani impressions.)
Beyonce
Maybe this is just recency bias, seeing as the above Hot Ones sketch is barely two days old, but Rudolph's embodiment of Queen Bey has been undeniably exceptional for years. The 48-year-old is a shameless member of the Beyhive, and she is probably the only fan who could stand in for the 28-time Grammy winner on a moment's notice.
Rudolph's legendary SNL career included trademarked sketches with Fred Armisen, and one of them was "Prince Show" with Rudolph as, yes, Beyoncé:
Prince (Armisen) also stopped by to welcome Blue Ivy to the world at Beyoncé's (Rudolph) home in a 2012 Season 37 episode:
The two-time Emmy winner even slipped seamlessly into character during an appearance with Melissa McCarthy on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in May 2019 (2-minute, 40-second mark):
Oprah
Oprah is larger than life, but not too big for Rudolph to take on. During Season 29 in 2004, while The Oprah Winfrey Show was still airing, Rudolph impersonated the iconic host's famous "Oprah's Favorite Things" annual segment.
Rudolph brought something of a "Oprah's Favorite Things" spinoff to the "Weekend Update" desk in 2012:
Rudolph has also dusted off her Oprah chops away from SNL, revealing that Oprah herself approved of the impersonation:
Vice President Kamala Harris
SNL struck gold during the last election cycle with recurring spoofs of the 2020 Democratic Debates. For those sketches, Rudolph portrayed Kamala Harris:
For the first time since the 2021 Inauguration, Rudolph again impersonated Vice President Harris on last Saturday's episode:
Impersonating Harris earned Rudolph an Emmy for outstanding guest actress in a comedy series last September. Harris—the first woman and first Black person as well as the first person of Indian descent to become VP of the United States—playfully responded to Rudolph's bit on Twitter in September 2019.
Christina Aguilera
In February 2003, Christina Aguilera was nominated at the 45th Grammys Awards for her "Dirrty" single under the best pop collaboration with vocals category. She did not win, but before that, Rudolph impersonated Aguilera commentating on the show at the "Weekend Update" desk with Fey and Jimmy Fallon.
While unrelated, roughly three years old, Rudolph again showed off her ability to hilariously exaggerate singers while playing fictional Schnucks Anthem Contest Winner Pamela Bell over-embellishing the national anthem:
Ivanka Trump
Rudolph had already cornered the market on impersonating former first lady Melania Trump, dating back to 2005 shortly after Donald married Melania and reviving it in 2016 for a segment on NBC's Maya & Marty variety show.
In July 2017, Rudolph stopped by Late Night with Seth Meyers and unveiled her impression of Ivanka Trump. "She kind of talks like she has a sexy secret," Rudolph said in the former senior advisor to the president's signature voice. "She's, like, always talking like she works in a lingerie store a little bit."
Before the interview's end, Meyers brought out a basket of wigs. Rudolph used the wigs to create characters on the spot. It doesn't matter when, where or who, Rudolph can and will impersonate.
More must-reads: