Steve Martin Reveals Why He'd Struggle To Play Tim Walz Despite Being Offered 'SNL' Role

Steve Martin is opening up about why he declined the chance to play Vice President Kamala Harris running mate, Tim Walz, on Saturday Night Live.

After Harris announced Walz as her right hand  Tuesday for her Democratic presidential bid, social media users on X (formerly Twitter) quickly named Martin as a front-runner to parody the Minnesota governor on the NBC sketch show. 

Apparently catching wind of the internet chatter, Martin, who bears a resemblance to the politician with white hair and glasses, reacted with a cheeky response on social media. 

I just learned that Tim Walz wants to go on the road with Marty Short, the actor wrote Tuesday on Instagrams Threads , nodding to his pal and fellow comedian Martin Short. Martin and Short, co-stars of Only Murders in the Building, are slated to go on a U.S. comedy tour this fall.

Martin told the Los Angeles Times  on Wednesday that SNL creator Lorne Michaels reached out to him earlier that day to offer him the gig, but the comedian explained why he politely turned Michaels down.  

I wanted to say no and, by the way, he wanted me to say no, Martin told the Times of the offered recurring gig for the shows 50th season. I said, Lorne, Im not an impressionist. You need someone who can really nail the guy. I was picked because I have gray hair and glasses.

There was one more thing that gave the Emmy winner, who will turn 79 on Aug. 14, pause: the time commitment. 

Its ongoing, Martin says. Its not like you do it once and get applause and never do it again. Again, they need a real impressionist to do that. Theyre gonna find somebody really, really good. Id be struggling.

Fans of SNL will recall that actor Alec Baldwin spent years playing Donald Trump after taking on the role before the 2016 election. SNL mainstay Maya Rudolph has also regularly portrayed Harris since 2019 and will be reprising her role through the current presidential campaign, Deadline reported.  

Martin has hosted the late-night show 16 times, Rolling Stone reported. 

Martin and Shorts comedy tour kicks off in Nashville on Sept. 19.