When Saturday Night Live boss Lorne Michaels pitched to Kate McKinnon that she should impersonate Rudy Giuliani, the comic actress wasnt sure how to react. Lorne [Michaels] is always pooh-poohing impression ideas because he says we dont look enough like the person, she told Jimmy Fallon on Wednesdays Tonight Show. And this was his idea. I was like, What are you saying to me?'
Though it wound up becoming one of her most memorable impressions, McKinnon explained that she almost didnt pull off the mannerisms of President Trumps lawyer. The secret, she said, was locking down a peculiar hand gesture: In this one interview, he was just moving his hands around like this, she said, wildly flailing her hands. And you have to find something, so I just chose to make that the thing.
McKinnon also showcased her newly acquired rapping skills on the show, performing a verse from a Hungarian Nineties rap song, Animal Cannibals Yozsefvros. She discovered the track from her driver/friend Eric while filming her latest movie, The Spy Who Dumped Me, on location in Budapest, Hungary.
Hungarian, as it turns, is the second-most difficult language for native speakers of English to pick up, she said. So I studied so hard every day for six months, and I found that at the end I could not order at a restaurant. Her rap skills, however, survived. She commanded the Tonight Show stage Wednesday during her hip-hop showcase, bouncing around and even roping in some crowd participation.