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“When I met Celine, she was like, ‘When I saw you, I peed. It was so funny!’”
Getting parodied on Saturday Night Live is a rite of passage that means you’ve officially made it. And while some celebs get offended when SNL pokes fun at them, most stars tend to embrace the moment and take it in stride. In fact, a handful of these celebrities have even gone on to appear on the show alongside their impersonator. These stars understand that it’s all done in good fun to make viewers laugh and have proven that they can totally take a joke.
Find out what these stars had to say about their SNL impersonations…
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston has been impersonated a handful of times on SNL and while she didn’t know what to make of it at first, she admits it now makes her laugh. As for who pulled off the best impression, Jennifer said it had to be Vanessa Bryant. She even appeared alongside Vanessa while she was in character on a Weekend Update segment.
“I remember someone saying, ‘Did you see the impression of you on SNL?’ My first response was, ‘What? No, I’m not impression[-worthy].’ They played it for me and [gasps], ‘That is so not the way I sound.’ Then I was like, ‘Uh, oh. Oh, I see.’ Everyone said it was a compliment, but I had to really get my brain around that and tuck my little tail between my legs, thinking I’m being made fun of. That’s always the gut instinct: ‘They’re making fun of me,’” she shared with InStyle.
Charli XCX
On the season 50 premiere of SNL, Charli XCX was impersonated by Bowen Yang. In the skit, Bowen appeared as Charli hosting her very own Brat talk show. Sarah Sherman also appeared as Troye Sivan -- and Charli says they both loved it.
“I think SNL is iconic, and Troye [Sivan] and I, we had an inkling it was coming,” Charli said on The Howard Stern Show. “We were very excited about it, and I love Bowen, and honestly I think he did a great job. I was very impressed with the hair texture actually, I thought it was a really good wig. Yeah, it was good. It was cool.”
Miley Cyrus
When Miley Cyrus was just a teenager, Vanessa Bayer portrayed her in a recurring SNL skit called The Miley Cyrus Show. Miley was a good sport about the whole thing and when she got the chance to meet Vanessa in person, she ironically ended up using Vanessa’s catchphrase from the show: “That’s pretty cool!”
“I said, ‘You play me on TV!’ And she said, ‘Yeah, I do.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, well that’s pretty cool,’” she recalled on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. “And she goes, ‘What?’ And I was like, ‘Oh my god! I sound like you doing me all the time and that’s really weird!’”
Drew Barrymore
In recent seasons of SNL, Drew Barrymore has been impersonated by Chloe Fineman, who once parodied an episode of The Drew Barrymore Show. As a longtime fan of SNL, Drew said she loved the sketch and thought Chloe was the “greatest thing.”
“I have loved SNL for as long as I know, and to also have the The Drew Barrymore Show brought to the party is so fun. Honored to be a part of it,” Drew wrote on Instagram.
When Chloe was later a guest on Drew’s show, she said that she hoped the late night show would continue parodying her talk show because she loved it so much.
Celine Dion
When Ariana Grande hosted SNL in 2016, she took the chance to impersonate a lot of famous voices -- including Celine Dion. In a skit about the music streaming service Tidal, Ariana showed off her vocal chops while singing Celine’s hit song “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now.” After the show aired, Ariana says she heard from Celine who thought it was hilarious.
“When I met Celine, she was like, ‘When I saw you, I peed. It was so funny,’” Ariana recalled on the Elvis Duran and the Morning Show. She would also bring the impression back, memorably in a UFC promo sketch just last year.
Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington has been impersonated on SNL numerous times through the years and was most recently portrayed by former cast member Jay Pharaoh. When asked about what he thought of Jay’s impression back in 2010, he admitted that he was pretty impressed by Jay.
“He’s a very talented kid...I had seen him before that. He’s got a thing on YouTube where he does me and Will Smith. He’s very good at both,” he told Access Hollywood.
Donatella Versace
Back when Maya Rudolph was an SNL cast member in the early 2000s, she often portrayed designer Donatella Versace. While some may think Donatella would be offended by the whole thing, she actually said she thought it was fun and “hilarious.”
“I talked to Maya one time on the phone just to give her some tips. If you’re [going] to impersonate me, do it better!” Donatella joked on The Joy Behar Show.
Oprah Winfrey
Another one of Maya Rudolph’s iconic impersonations was as talk show host Oprah Winfrey. Despite the over-the-top impression, Oprah reportedly loved it and even invited Maya to be on her “Funniest People in America” episode. Maya later shared that Oprah had only good things to say about her impression -- and noted that she appreciated she was no longer impersonated by a man on the show.
“[Oprah] said she really liked it. She said she really appreciated that I was a woman, because I think I was the first woman on Saturday Night Live to play her. She was always played by Tim Meadows…She was like, ‘Thank God you’re not a dude!’” Maya shared on Conan.
Alex Cooper
Call Her Daddy podcast host Alex Cooper was a fan of Chloe Fineman’s impression of her in an SNL parody of popular TikToks. In the skit, viewers watched as hilarious videos popped up on a TikTok “For You Page,” which included a fake clip from the podcast. After the episode aired, Alex even created her own TikTok using the audio from the sketch and captioned the video “ily @Chloe Fineman.”
