Dana Carvey Breaks Down ‘SNL’ Biden Impression: How Saying ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ and Channeling His Dad Led Him to the Perfect Voice

Dana Carvey made a surprise return to “Saturday Night Live” last weekend to portray President Joe Biden. On the Season 50 premiere episode, he joined Jim Gaffigan as Tim Walz, Andy Samberg as Doug Emhoff, Maya Rudolph as Kamala Harris, Bowen Yang as JD Vance and James Austin Johnson as Donald Trump in a cold open parodying the 2024 election candidates’ rallies.

“It’s been top secret. I’ve kept it under wraps for weeks, but I was asked by Lorne Michaels to come on ‘Saturday Night Live’ … to do Biden,” Carvey said on his and David Spade’s podcast, “Superfly,” recorded before the season premiere of “SNL.”

Carvey said he got the call from Michaels after he “casually developed” the impression over time on the podcast.

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“I didn’t see it out there enough, a Biden impression,” Carvey said. “[There are] a lot of brilliant Trumps — Shane [Gillis], James Austin Johnson. Biden is trickier … getting that high-energy part of him, and that didn’t come out until maybe six months into his first term when they asked him some question and he got kind of mad.”

Carvey added, “It sounds kind of corny, but the true North Star is to try to make it funny and not really get it to be a political message, per se.”

On “SNL,” Carvey drew big laughs when his Biden stuttered while talking about his Build Back Better Plan, which devolved into him saying, “Can’t believe it’s not butter!”

“I didn’t write it down … that he would say, ‘I can’t believe it’s not butter!’ with declarative intent. I don’t know why,” Carvey told Spade. “It was ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ … and then you gave me one: ‘Bed, Bath and Beyond!,’ which is a good one too.”

Carvey went deeper into his process in a conversation with Al Franken from a few months ago, in which the comedian explained how his Biden impression has evolved.

“He was kind of like the friendly grandpa … ‘My father lost his job — no joke,'” Carvey said in a “soft Biden” voice. “That was just so funny, how he would say something that was utterly not funny — no human being would think a guy losing his job was a joke — but he has to tell us, ‘I’m not a stand-up comedian here. I’m not being funny. Father lost his job — no joke!'”

“He doesn’t do this anymore, but during the primaries it was the list,” Carvey added, before going into the impression: “Number one, the one part. Number two, what the guy said. Number three, come on, you know the drill. Folks, let’s get real. I’m being serious now!”

Carvey said his Biden was “whispery” and “gentle” until the press started to question his “vigor,” at which point the president started to get loud.

“That was a new rhythm for me. I’d never seen him go that loud,” Carvey said. “The final one, which my father used to do, was this whispery, ‘Don’t you get it folks?'”

As Carvey began to seamlessly merge his four “rhythms” for Biden, he said, “That’s my ‘Not gonna do it’ for Biden,” in reference to his iconic impression of former president George H. W. Bush in the 1990s.

Carvey was a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” from 1986 to 1993, and he last appeared on stage at Studio 8H in a 2016 cameo. On the show, Biden has previously been portrayed by Jim Carrey and “SNL” cast members Johnson, Alex Moffat and Mikey Day.

“SNL” returns Oct. 5 with host Nate Bargatze and musical guest Coldplay.