Jim Gaffigan explains why playing Tim Walz on “SNL” was scary: 'I'm not a huge fan of the cold read'

The comedian said that even after 35 years of performing stand-up, nothing could prepare him for starring in the live sketch show.

Jim Gaffigan experienced a healthy dose of fear ahead of making his Saturday Night Live debut.

In the run up to the November election, Gaffigan appeared in several sketches as Kamala Harris' VP pick, Tim Walz. But the day before he was slated to make his debut on the show, the comedian admits that he was pretty concerned about how it would go — not because of his Walz impression but because by that point, he had yet to read a script.

"I was contracted for five, and I only did one table read," Gaffigan shared during a Monday visit to Late Night With Seth Meyers, explaining that this was because "the script wasn't done."

He added that going in, he didn't initially know just how last-minute the show would be.

"We shoot it obviously on Saturday. I remember on Friday at like 7pm calling like, 'Hey uh is there a script or? Should we be concerned? Did you guys forget?' And I love to improvise but I'm not a huge fan of cold read," he said, quipping, "Maybe because I don't know how to read."

Meyers, an SNL alum, said that this is not atypical of the show's weekly schedule. "There's not a lot of time, especially with the political stuff, to rehearse or get familiarity with the script. Sometimes they just say, 'Just read what Wally holds up,'" he said, pointing to the show's longtime cue card supervisor, Wally Feresten.

Whether or not a script was ready, Gaffigan got through several sketches with his Walz impression, including one that saw him begin a bromance with Bowen Yang as JD Vance and another that included a spirited game of Family Feud between candidates. But even after several episodes under his belt, Gaffigan admits that the anxiety of appearing on the live sketch show did not fade.

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"I've performed stand-up for 35 years and I've been in a lot of awkward situations but there is nothing that really prepares you for that live television," he said. "You walk out and you shake Lorne Michaels' hand, it's like meeting Thomas Jefferson, and then you're supposed  to do a sketch. It's bizarre."

The feeling was amplified by the show's massive audience, who were quick with their reactions online.

"Obviously we know it's a very popular show, a lot of people watch it. There's clips of it and if it's a political thing, it'll be on the Sunday political shows. But I didn't realize that, within a 24 hour period, everyone on the planet has seen the cold open if it's a real topical one," Gaffigan said. As for how his sketches were received, he joked that the reviews varied depending which social media platform he checked. "If you look at one platform they're like 'This is the worst thing that's happened to humanity.' And then if you look at another they're like, 'That's perfect.'"

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The start of SNL's 50th season also saw Maya Rudolph return to the show as Kamala Harris, while James Austin Johnson reprised his role as Donald Trump, Dana Carvey played Joe Biden, and Andy Samberg played Doug Emhoff.

Gaffigan previously reflected on his time as Walz during a chat with Carvey and David Spade on their Superfly podcast, where he revealed how a little white lie from his manager landed him the gig in the first place.

"I was shooting in the U.K., actually, and so then he called me and he said, 'Hey, you know, I've been talking to this person about you for Tim Walz. And I've been saying that you're sending me videos of you for the impression of Tim Walz,'" Gaffigan recalled. "And I go, 'Really?' And he goes, 'Yes. So, now they're kind of saying, Can I see those videos?'"

Gaffigan then scrambled to record his "audition tape" despite not previously having a Walz impression in his back pocket. Instead he used his brother Mitch — "who lives in Indiana, who has a very Chicago accent" — as inspiration. And, obviously, it worked.

Watch Gaffigan discuss his time on SNL in the video above.