SNL's Kenan Thompson Talks Burgermobile, Crashing His Mom's Accord - Exclusive Interview
Kenan Thompson is Saturday Night Live's longest-tenured cast member, having first appeared way back in 2003. The Atlanta-born comedian has also starred in popular 90s Nickelodeon show "Kenan and Kel," sketch series "All That," and both "Good Burger" movies. More recently, Thompson has fronted a couple of Autotrader's ad campaigns — and this gave SlashGear the chance to catch up with the six-time Emmy nominee and chat about his car history, vehicular experiences, and what he has going on at the moment.
During our conversation, we learned about the cars Kenan has owned, that time he managed to crash a close relative's vehicle, and what his dream ride currently is. We even managed to get a hint at the whereabouts of the legendary "Burgermobile" — a custom, fast-food-themed, AMC Pacer that appeared in Thompson's 1997 movie "Good Burger." Along with why they had to switch to a convertible for the movie's recent sequel.
Can you talk us through your car history?
My first car was a Toyota 4Runner. Loved it. Loved the back window feature sliding down with the touch of a button. I always thought that was really cool. I think the next car I had was a Mercedes and then after that, a smaller Mercedes. I had an S-Class that I bought used and then I got an E-Class that I leased brand new. That was cool because that was my first "new new" car since the 4Runner. So that was kind of 10 years kind of in between, it was nice to get back into something new.
Then after that, I had a Dodge Challenger, I love that car. You know, American muscle. And then back to Mercedes the SUV version, I had the three row. As it was, you know, family time and stuff like that. So I got a larger, you know, kind of soccer van kind of car. And then now I'm in there like Lambo SUV, the Lambo truck.
Kind of best of both worlds as far as like, being able to have space for everybody's stuff and then pleasurable experience for papa.
What's your dream car?
I've been eyeballing that Rolls-Royce brand for a while. You know what I mean? But it just seems so expensive. Everything is so expensive, or you look like an expensive person when you get out of it, and I don't know if I'm ready for that attention yet.
I mean I love the Cullinan, you know, I love their suvs, one of the smoothest suvs I've ever seen, you know. So that's the thing like if I'm able to like get a Cullinan and on my phone through the Autotrader brand, like that's incredible. It's just incredible.
Do you have any stories about the BurgerMobile?
What was it like to drive?
You can't really see over that burger. You know, it's tough to see the road and that's not a normal driving condition. Um, and yeah, it was an older car. So it was like a little clunkyish but I don't know, we were just excited because, yeah, there was a freaking hamburger on the front of it. Like, that's just crazy that they're able to build something like that.
Do you know where it is now?
The saga of the Burgermobile. Last I checked, it was like in Arizona somewhere. Someone bought it and has been taking care of it. I saw some pretty recent pictures and it looked like it was still running and stuff like that. So, That's great. It's not like in the back of a barn with like weeds growing through and stuff like that. It's still functional which, which is nice. It should probably go into a museum at some point.
Were there any plans to get the original BurgerMobile back for Good Burger 2?
I think they were writing different things. Like they were writing different stunts or whatever. It called for a convertible version because they wrote this one gag where you know I get flipped into the car. With the hard top that wouldn't have been possible and I think they really wanted that gag because it's like typical kind of Ed behavior, basically causing mayhem, but then everything kind of works out fine.
So yeah, we had the convertible version and that was cool to see too. You know, because that one had like a back seat and, you know, it was almost like a muscle kind of car.
Can you tell us a personal car story?
I remember the first time I wrecked my mom's car. It was just, you know, not really, knowing little things about driving. Like when you're at an intersection and someone's in front of you and everybody's making a right turn. You're looking to your left to make the right turn to see if you're clear, you got to like, look back to the right to make sure that person is moved out of the way.
You can't just assume that they've gone based on the rhythm of traffic that you watched happen before you got to the stop sign. And that's what happened, like, I thought, my buddy had pulled away, but he hadn't yet and I just ran right into the back of his car. So it was like he was driving his mom's car. I'm driving my mom's car, and we both were like horrified.
In a way, was it better you crashed into a friend than a random person?
Absolutely. And luckily, yeah mom's, you know, were able to like cordially figure it out to get it.
What was your mom's car at the time
Oh my mom. She had a Honda Accord. I think it was like a 92 Green and tan interior Accord.
And the damage wasn't too bad?
No, it was just a little tapped but you know, it definitely shattered the back plate of my buddy's mom's car. Terrified to watch things, crumbling the pieces and it's like, oh my god. That's terrible.
Do you think the experience will make you more understanding if one of your kids crashes your car? Hopefully not the Lamborghini.
Absolutely, please God no. I mean, that's what insurance is for I guess and as long as everybody's health is fine. You know? That's the biggest issue I guess.
Tell us about the current campaign with AutoTrader.
This isn't the first thing you've done with AutoTrader, is it?
No, this is round number two. This is like a couple of years worth of this relationship I'm having with Autotrader and I'm really enjoying it. It's always a compliment when people at the top of their game come calling you and they tell you that you're at the top of your game and there might be a way for you guys to help each other. That's pretty much what's happening here. We've been really successful with as you know, the effect we're having on people when they see me talking about the brand but also enjoying the commercial itself and the concepts itself, just the creative like that. That's always flattering for the performer.
At the same time, The messaging hitting home is what the brand watches. So we've kind of been having the best of both worlds. Now we're on the second version of doing something creative to get the message about Autotrader out there. And it seems to be working because I have a lot of people coming up to me. Like man I've been seeing you on that car commercial, it's popping up and kind of everywhere whatever. And I was like great, but have you actually tried to use it? And they're like, yeah. Yeah man, it's really convenient and this, that, and the other? So yeah, that's what it feels good. It feels like the work is working.
How much of your own experience with cars plays into this? Can we expect to see any sort of like in jokes or references?
I mean, I hope so. I think as we go along, it'll start getting more and more personal. Right now it's just more about sharing the information with the public about how easy Autotrader makes the car buying experience basically. And Yeah, that's been going very well.
For me, it's easy because it Is very intriguing. Like all the things that they offer, all the things that they're actually able to assist on. It's really impressive. You know what i mean? For me to share that info. It's like it's an actual pleasure because I'm like you guys know about this.