Musical biopics were dead for a good while, thanks in part to Walk Hard, the devastating parody that sent up the corny likes of Walk the Line and Ray. But they’re alive again. The Queen movie Bohemian Rhapsody even netted its star, Rami Malek, an Oscar. So it’s only inevitable that one day soon we’ll get a Prince biopic. But who will play him? An SNL sketch had some suggestions.
Malek, who hosted the most recent episode, plays one of two actors auditioning for the role. The other is Kenan Thompson. Malek isn’t Black. Thompson, even with a wig and purple get-up, doesn’t look much like Prince. But they’re still the final two contestants for a movie by director Jordan Peele (Chris Redd).
But there are two twists. One, Jordan Peale’s Prince biopic winds up not being about Prince at all. Instead, as one of them guesses, it turns into a “horror movie about racism.” The other is that they wind up with an unexpected guest: erstwhile James Bond, Malek’s No Time to Die co-star, and NYC resident Daniel Craig shows up, thinking it’s an audition for “a prince,” with regalia to match. None of them are ideal Princes, reminding us that perhaps no none could ever embody the late musician.
You can watch the sketch in the video above.