Kenan Thompson Shares the Joy of Fatherhood
Written by Rania Aniftos on June 12, 2024
If you’re wondering what Kenan Thompson looks most forward to on Father’s Day, it’s spending quality time with his daughters, Georgia and Gianna.
“Just going to the park, sitting on the grass and hanging out, maybe some frisbee; it’s just time spent,” the Saturday Night Live long-time cast member shared with EBONY inside the Nintendo New York at Rockefeller Center. “It’s my favorite thing for fathers.”
This Father’s Day, Thompson and family will enjoy quality time with Nintendo Switch. He and his daughters had a very special opportunity to do a commercial for the brand together.
“That was an amazing day, being able to work with both my daughters for the first time,” he shared. “They got their own trailer and stuff like that, so it was like their official job. I remember those moments when I got my first job, so it’s cool to introduce them to the fact that it’s work that I do, and it’s not just playing all the time.”
Thompson stresses that his two young girls are also good at giving Father’s Day gifts, too. “They make me lots of “Number One Dad” mugs and T-shirts—there’s a lot of glitter,” he revealed. “They are thoughtful givers.”
Sharing that the best part of fatherhood is “the unconditional love of it all, on both sides,” he declared, “I would literally do anything and everything for these people. I felt like that about a lot of people but more so a theory as opposed to the definite when it’s your child. That’s a great feeling to have.”
He adds that having children can also remind just how tiring parenting can be. “When they sleep is the most precious thing in the world. Somebody said, ‘I think God makes kids sleep to remind you of how sweet they are.’ Because when they are awake, they can be little terrors running around, but they’re just getting the wiggles out. You gotta figure out things to stimulate them with and gaming with Nintendo Switch is a good source to do things together.”
Having two girls, Thompson makes sure to surround with positive female role models. “They share what they can expect from boys…and I can kind of just be the Enforcer, the force figure in the background.”
He’s already got a plan for when the boys do come around. “I’m knuckles,” Thompson joked, lifting his fists. “But I’m not worried about them. They have strong women to guide them through those kinds of things.”
On a recent and hilarious SNL skit, Thompson joked about having a baby face. So we took the opportunity to ask him his skincare secret. “Soap and water…and lotion,” he exclaimed. “And my mom and dad’s genes. But yeah, lotion, folks.”
