As the 2015-2016 college school year gets underway, NBCUniversal and Comcast XFinity are teaming up to make the fall semester more entertaining by giving one lucky college a guest lecture from NBC Saturday Night Live veteran cast member Kenan Thompson. Villanovan Arts & Entertainment Editors, Austin Neri and Kristian Stefanides, talked to Kenan on the phone about this exclusive opportunity for the Nova Nation.

The Villanovan: For the winning university, what exactly are you bringing? What are you going to do?

Kenan Thompson: I’m going to do whatever I want, I guess.

TV: We know you have a pretty storied history with SNL. Can you tell us any of your favorite memories from the show?

KT: Yes, I mean there’s so many, you know. I remember my first week being so lost and then Maya Rudolph coming to me with an idea and then we wrote it and then the moment actually came for it to be performed on the show and all of that stuff. All those kind of moments I remember very, very clearly, and then as time goes on it gets easier and easier. But, not really because coming up with ideas is always really a challenge and stuff so it’s just easier once you do have an idea. The blocking point of it is like ‘Oh, we still have a couple of days to figure this out,’ as opposed to it being such a rushed job. It feels like every week we’re at the last minute doing everything a lot of the time, so it’s nice when you get something that feels like it’s working, like blocking it, you know what I mean, like all of the jokes are there. Much, much nicer, because you’re not stressed out about it or tripping about being a new person, you know what I mean?

TV: How do you stay motivated? The entertainment industry is such a tough business to be in. You’ve established yourself pretty well with “SNL” and some head movie roles but how do you keep the motivation knowing that one day you could be doing something and the next you really could just be on the sideline waiting for your next opportunity.

KT: Yeah I think that’s like the main motivation is being left out of things. You know what I’m saying. I don’t want to be the guy that’s not in the show. 

TV: How did “All That” and “Kenan & Kel “on Nickelodeon impact your present career and what was that experience like for you?

KT: It was a great training route for me and I also think it was like a great feeling planning my name and the kind of entertainment that I bring to people and young people’s minds. Now you guys are all in college and you remember those days. The Nickelodeon years were actually really great for me, a really great opportunity to start with. But it was also really good training and introduction to who Keenan Thompson is. 

TV: What are you looking forward to in the future? 

KT: Just doing a lot of work, you know what I mean. Just continuing on a path, like a Tom Hanks, just consistently trying to plan good roles and do good performances but also I want to get my producing type situation going and start putting up projects for other people.