Interview: SNL’s Kevin Nealon on his second career as an artist

If you’re a child of the eighties, you grew up watching the great Kevin Nealon as the host of Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live. From 1986-1995, Nealon was one of the show’s most popular players, with probably his defining role (other than Weekend Update) being as Franz (opposite Dana Carvey’s Hans), one half of the Arnold Schwarzenegger-like body-building duo Hans and Franz. Since SNL, Nealon’s gone on to great success as a character actor, starring on Weeds opposite Mary-Louise Parker for 99 episodes while also being a regular on Man with a Plan. And regularly showing up in cameo roles opposite old pal Adam Sandler in many films.

It turns out that Nealon, in addition to his acting talents, is one heck of an artist, with him recently writing a book, “I Exaggerate My Brushes with Fame” (buy it here), which reveals his hand-drawn caricatures of some of his favourite friends and colleagues, including the great Christopher Walken.

I was lucky enough to chat with Nealon recently about his art and found him to be a really nice guy. We talked a bit about why he began painting (COVID) and what he’s up to nowadays with the SAG strike. He even talks to us about some of the movies he’s been enjoying recently (he was a big fan of Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning) and about how he’s finally catching up with Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul after years of being told how brilliant they are. You can even catch me urging him to watch The Bear.

For more on Kevin Nealon’s art, you can visit his website and don’t forget to check out his YouTube show, Hiking with Kevin. We’ll also profile him shortly on our Awesome Artists From Around the Net series