Who Is James Austin Johnson, The Best Donald Trump Impersonator And New SNL Cast Member?

Good news, "Saturday Night Live" fans! The famous late night sketch comedy show is adding another comedian to its roster. Drumroll, please... it's none other than Donald Trump impersonator extraordinaire James Austin Johnson. 

Johnson, who has been hailed as "the internet's best impersonator" of the former prez, recalled to Vanity Fair in 2020 about his idea to start impersonating the former POTUS. "I had a day job where I was folding clothes with other stand-up comedians and touring musicians, and we were all in this merch warehouse together. That's really where I got a lot of my Trump takes from," he explained. "It was like being around friends. There's a social aspect to it, that we'll just be chitchatting about something, having a conversation at work." But what's the secret to nailing a Trump impersonation? According to Johnson, the key is to create the material off the cuff. "Trump's not written out, and he's not rehearsed," he added.

But besides his dead-on imitation of Trump, what else is there to now about the comic? Keep reading after the jump to find out.

As reported by Vanity Fair, budding comedian James Austin Johnson got his start in show biz at the ripe old age of 10. He then went on to study the Sanford Meisner technique in college — one that focuses on actors memorizing their lines in an effort to better play the role of their character. "The lines that you've memorized will come across as natural when you're in the moment," Johnson explained about the technique before adding, it helps you to free up so you can do stuff — that you can have action while you're speaking it. It makes it really natural."

Still, the actor and comedian would be remiss if he didn't also attribute some of his success to his affinity for creating impromptu videos of himself performing various bits. According to Johnson, the videos that portray him up and moving around perform better than those where he's just sitting behind a computer, albeit a bit more composed. "My performance is probably just better walking around. And I think I'm more tapped into the subconscious," he revealed.

So what made the powers that be at "Saturday Night Live" set their sights on Johnson — a comedian famous for impersonating "the Donald?" Perhaps Johnson's new gig at "SNL" has something to do with actor Alec Baldwin famously admitting to Deadline in 2019 that he no longer wanted to impersonate the 45th president. "I don't want to do it anymore," Baldwin said matter of factly. "I don't think it's doing anything. It's not doing anything good or bad for him." He went on to add that at times, playing the role of Donald Trump often made him "hope a meteor hits this building and it kills me." Yikes.

Fortunately, it appears that Johnson takes no issue with impersonating someone he doesn't align with politically. During a 2020 interview with Vanity Fair, when asked if he thinks less of his fame by having garnered it through Trump impersonations, Johnson was adamant that he did not. "If it's Trump that gets people to follow me on Twitter and Instagram, I'll take it. I'm just going to keep putting up other s***," he declared.