If there's one thing Jay Pharoah is known for, it's hilarious and accurate impressions. After six seasons on Saturday Night Live, he's continuing to branch out. Stopping by Jimmy Kimmel Live! this week, the comedian laid down even more impressions of a few of his favorites, including former President Barack Obama, Shannon Sharpe, and Denzel Washington.
"The thing with President Obama is that, for me, it evolved, because at first, I was really nasally with it," Pharoah explained," and then I went to SNL and talked to [writer and producer] Steve Higgins and he said talk from the back of your throat."
Launching into to any one of his many imitations might have gotten laughs and applause from the studio audience, but not everyone is a fan of the mimicry. Most notably? Sharpe, the former NFL player and current Fox Sports 1 analyst. "Shannon Sharpe hates my impression of him. He does not like it," Pharoah said, before doing an impression of him anyway.
Pharoah was on Kimmel to talk about his upcoming film Unsane, a psychological thriller directed by Steven Soderbergh that's a departure from his usual comedy hijinks and most notably shot on an iPhone in 4K. Explaining how he ended up in the cast, Pharoah said, "[Soderbergh] hit me up and said I've seen your work and I know you have a dramatic side and I want to use that in this film." Pharoah went on to reveal that the first time the director would have seen his work was the popular Will vs. Denzel video after Matt Damon showed him the clip on set.
Watch the full interview above. Unsane is in theaters on March 23rd.
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