Creator / Kenan Thompson - TV Tropes

Kenan Thompson (born May 10, 1978 in Columbus, Ohio) is an American actor and comedian.

He began his career in the 1990s, on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy show All That. He and his fellow cast member Kel Mitchell were later given their own sitcom, Kenan & Kel, which ran for four seasons. He joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 2003, and has gone on to become its longest-tenured cast member (still with the show as of 2025). His films have included starring roles in Good Burger (a spinoff of a recurring All That sketch) and Fat Albert (in which he played the title role).

Thompson was married to former model Christiana Evangeline from 2011 to 2022. They have two children.

Selected Filmography:

• D2: The Mighty Ducks (1994): Russ Tyler.
  • D3: The Mighty Ducks (1996): Russ Tyler.
• All That (1994–99, 2002, 2005, 2019): Various Characters.
• Heavyweights (1995): Roy Murphy.
• Kenan & Kel (1996–2000): Kenan Rockmore.
• Good Burger (1997): Dexter Reed.
• Oh Yeah! Cartoons (1999–2000): On-screen Host.
• The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000): Lewis.
• Saturday Night Live (2003–present): Various Characters.
• Fat Albert (2004): Fat Albert.
• Snakes on a Plane (2006): Troy.
• The Mighty B! (2008-2009) Rocky.
• The Magic of Belle Isle (2012) Henry.
• Rock Dog (2017): Riff.
• The Grinch (2018): Bricklebaum.
• Bring The Funny (2019): Co-host.
• Trolls World Tour (2020): Tiny Diamond.
  • Trolls: TrollsTopia (2020–22)
  • Trolls: Holiday in Harmony (2021)
  • Trolls Band Together (2023)
• Hubie Halloween (2020): Sgt. Blake.
• Kenan (2021–22): Kenan Williams.
• Batman: The Audio Adventures (2021-present): Commissioner Jim Gordon
• Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock (2022): Jack Hammer.
• Praise Petey (2023) : Elder Amos.
• Good Burger 2 (2023): Dexter Reed. (also executive producer)

Tropes:

• Attention Deficit Creator Disorder: For three years, he and Kel were regulars on two Nickelodeon shows and also made Good Burger during the same time period.
• Harpo Does Something Funny: Head writer Brian Tucker is on record saying that all the writers need to do for a punchline is write "KENAN REACTS," and Kenan will get laughs.
• Older Than They Look: Can pass for 30, but as of season 50 of SNL he's 46.
• Typecasting: If SNL does a sketch revolving around a Game Show, it's almost a guarantee he'll be the one playing the host and Only Sane Man (since Bill Hader — who normally plays game show hosts who are the sane ones — left the show).
  • This was also his role in the All That sketch "You Can't Win", as his character would always be the one pointing out how ridiculous the rules are.