--- title: Kate McKinnon Shares Her Secret to Playing Hillary Clinton description: The SNL star had her own approach to parodying Clinton canonical: https://time.com/3900583/kate-mckinnon-hillary-clinton/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-28T22:10:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T07:43:26.630Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Kate McKinnon Shares Her Secret to Playing Hillary Clinton og:description: The SNL star has her own approach to parodying Clinton og:url: https://time.com/3900583/kate-mckinnon-hillary-clinton/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4f4b989f7f65060d/69885216524fc05514df2d71/kate-mckinnon-hillary-clinton-snl.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Saturday Night LiveKate McKinnon Hillary Clinton SNL - Season 40 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kate McKinnon Shares Her Secret to Playing Hillary Clinton twitter:description: The SNL star has her own approach to parodying Clinton twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4f4b989f7f65060d/69885216524fc05514df2d71/kate-mckinnon-hillary-clinton-snl.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Kate McKinnon Shares Her Secret to Playing Hillary Clinton on SNL by [Annie Howard / The Hollywood Reporter](https://time.com/author/the-hollywood-reporter/) ## Annie Howard / The Hollywood Reporter May 28, 2015 10:10 PM UTC  Kate McKinnon as Hillary Rodham Clinton during the "Hillary Cold Open" skit on March 7, 2015 -- (Photo by: Dana Edelson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) Kate McKinnon as Hillary Rodham Clinton during the "Hillary Cold Open" skit on March 7, 2015 -- (Photo by: Dana Edelson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)Dana Edelson—NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images by [Annie Howard / The Hollywood Reporter](https://time.com/author/the-hollywood-reporter/) ## Annie Howard / The Hollywood Reporter May 28, 2015 10:10 PM UTC Kate McKinnon is perhaps the _Saturday Night Live_ castmember tasked with the show’s biggest job in the next year: playing presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. While speaking on _The Hollywood Reporter_‘s Comedy Actress Roundtable, McKinnon shared her secret on creating her Hillary. “I wanted to play on the inherent contrast between a woman who is so driven and so hardened by her experiences and needs this, and also a little sweetie granny from the Midwest, just the juxtaposition of those two things,” said McKinnon. McKinnon also recounted a stand-up routine that went so terribly that she wound up drinking at Hooters. The actress joined Lena Dunham (_Girls_), Amy Schumer (_Inside Amy Schumer_), Tracee Ellis Ross (_Black-ish_), Gina Rodriguez (_Jane the Virgin_) and Ellie Kemper (_Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt_) for the roundtable, where some the year’s hottest television actresses discussed weighty topics such as racism and sexism in Hollywood while remaining unfiltered, frank and funny. The full Comedy Actress Emmy Roundtable can be seen on _Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter_ when it premieres Sunday, Aug. 16, at 11 a.m. ET/PT on Sundance TV and HollywoodReporter.com. Check back Friday to watch interviews with Amy Schumer and Tracee Ellis Ross. _This_ [_article_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kate-mckinnon-playing-hillary-clinton-798180) _originally appeared on_ [_The Hollywood Reporter_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/)_._ _More from The Hollywood Reporter:_ * [2015 Summer Movie Guide: Sequels… Comedy… Action!](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/2015-summer-movie-guide-sequels-796697/1-san-andreas) * [Summer Box Office Champs: From Sharks to Shrek to Superheroes](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/summer-box-office-champs-sharks-794202/1-jaws-1975) * [Summer’s 23 Most Intriguing Indie Films](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/summers-23-intriguing-indie-films-795013/1-let-the-counterprogramming-begin) [2015 Summer Movie Guide: Sequels… Comedy… Action!](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/2015-summer-movie-guide-sequels-796697/1-san-andreas) [Summer Box Office Champs: From Sharks to Shrek to Superheroes](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/summer-box-office-champs-sharks-794202/1-jaws-1975) [Summer’s 23 Most Intriguing Indie Films](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/summers-23-intriguing-indie-films-795013/1-let-the-counterprogramming-begin) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3900583/kate-mckinnon-hillary-clinton/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3900583/kate-mckinnon-hillary-clinton/"},"headline":"Kate McKinnon Shares Her Secret to Playing Hillary Clinton on SNL","datePublished":"2015-05-28T22:10:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:43:26.630Z","description":"The SNL star has her own approach to parodying Clinton","url":"https://time.com/3900583/kate-mckinnon-hillary-clinton/","keywords":["Hillary Clinton","Television","SNL"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4f4b989f7f65060d/69885216524fc05514df2d71/kate-mckinnon-hillary-clinton-snl.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Annie Howard / The Hollywood Reporter"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4f4b989f7f65060d/69885216524fc05514df2d71/kate-mckinnon-hillary-clinton-snl.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Saturday Night LiveKate McKinnon Hillary Clinton SNL - Season 40","caption":"Kate McKinnon Hillary Clinton SNL","creditText":"Dana Edelson—NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3900583/kate-mckinnon-hillary-clinton/","name":"Kate McKinnon Shares Her Secret to Playing Hillary Clinton on SNL"}}]}] ```