Top 10 James Austin Johnson Impressions on SNL
#10: Noel Gallagher
Noel Gallagher and his brother Liam are infamous in the rock world for their dysfunctional bickering, which is seen to get in the way of their band Oasis. Johnson played Noel on a “Weekend Update” segment opposite Sarah Sherman, who played Liam, when infighting from the Oasis members almost ruined a reunion tour. Johnson and Sherman portray the Gallagher sibling rivalry as petty squibbling like you would see from two 10-year-old brothers fighting in the backseat during a roadtrip. Johnson really nailed Noel, depicting the musician as one part pretentiously uptight and one part absurd. However, British audiences didn’t appreciate Johnson’s accent, believing it wasn’t an accurate representation of Gallagher. Bollocks!
#9: Joe Buck
Johnson has played Buck in a couple of sketches where the sportscaster has to read promos for bizarre TV shows that the network is pushing in the middle of announcing an NFL game. Johnson doesn’t look like Buck at all, and the makeup department doesn’t have Johnson even remotely resemble Buck. However, the voice is dead on, being one of Johnson’s stronger impressions, at least auditorily. The “SNL” impressionist plays it straight while describing TV shows with outlandish concepts that would rob anyone describing them of their dignity.
#8: Rick Rubin
This sketch takes place at a panel celebrating 50 years of hip-hop, where the legendary producer weighs in on the nature of the genre. Rubin has had a tremendous influence on the music industry, so it’s wonderful to see him get the “SNL” treatment. Unfortunately, Rubin isn’t prominent in the sketch since the main focus is on a flash-in-the-pan artist played by Timothée Chalamet, who is a dimwitted hack in the hip-hop genre. Nevertheless, Johnson captures the eccentric energy of the hip-hop producer with his disheveled appearance.
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#7: Cameron Winter
Johnson gets to show off his musical chops in this sketch, which is a commercial for a fictional Peacock special called “Random Christmas Duets.” As the title suggests, this special pairs unlikely celebrities together, and Johnson plays three different singers. As tenor Andrea Bocelli, he manages to hold his own with Ariana Grande, who’s playing Celine Dion. In the same sketch, he also plays Bob Dylan and Geese frontman Cameron Winter. Johnson perfectly nails Winter’s look and indie style, singing “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” with a mumbly voice.
#6: Mitch McConnell
Johnson’s Nashville background serves him well when he’s imitating southern politicians such as Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina or Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Johnson played Senator McConnell on a 2022 segment of “Weekend Update,” where he was uncomfortably defending embattled Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker. The best part of the impression was the frown, which unmistakably resembled McConnell’s unique facial features. Politicians don’t tend to be as well-known as high-profile celebrities, so it’s nice to see a cast member go the extra mile in mimicking political officials.
#5: Werner Herzog
In this sketch, Britney Spears is looking for someone to narrate the audiobook for her memoir, and one of the people who auditioned was Werner Herzog. While the filmmaker has an iconic voice, it’s probably too austere and depressing to fit the personality of a bubbly popstar. Johnson is only shown doing the scene for a few seconds, but it was enough to show the audience what such a disastrous audition would have been like. Though thanks to this portrayal, we get to see what a unique fish out of water perspective this could be if Herzog were assigned the project.
#4: Joe Biden
In addition to playing senators, Johnson has played two U.S. presidents, including Joe Biden. Johnson took over the role in 2021, playing the president in his first sketch, which also happened to be the cold open of the Season 47 premiere. That’s an impressive start for a rookie, when “SNL” cast members typically struggle for airtime on the show their first few years. Johnson’s take on the 46th president was making Biden look absent-minded but affable, with Johnson saying the impression was based on Owen Wilson and Nicolas Cage.
#3: Adam Driver
On a “Weekend Update” segment, Johnson broke out this impression when he was showing off his range to Colin and Michael. Johnson’s impression involved a mashup of Driver’s two most notable characters: Kylo Ren from “Star Wars” and Hannah’s boyfriend Adam Sackler from HBO’s “Girls.” Johnson doesn’t put on a costume or try to look like Driver, instead just relying on the voice alone to sell the impression. Delivered with sheer intensity, it was short and sweet. We didn’t know we needed this mashup, but now we’re glad we have it.
#2: Bob Dylan
Another voice Johnson did for the “Weekend Update” segment he did when he was showing off voices was Bob Dylan’s cell phone on vibrate. This was just one of many short impressions that Johnson admitted he was kicking around but didn’t know what to do with. Eventually, he was able to fully impersonate Dylan in a couple of sketches, including one that depicted the red carpet for the premiere of the Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown.” The impression was also featured in a sketch where Dylan did a holiday duet with Katy Perry. If the writers can work this impression in any other scenarios, it’s always welcome.
#1: Donald Trump
Throughout the years, several veteran giants of “SNL” have played Trump, from Phil Hartman, to Darrell Hammond, to Alec Baldwin, but James Austin Johnson could possibly have the best impression of all. Every time he speaks as the president, Johnson lets out every little detail of Trump’s unique vocal characteristics and mannerisms. The makeup is also fantastic, perfectly encapsulating Trump’s facial features. Johnson says that the impression started to take off when he stopped having Trump say horrible things and had him veer off into a non-sequitur stream of consciousness.
Who do you think is the best “SNL” cast member who specialized in impressions? Let us know in the comments.
