When he was just 22-years-old, comedian and master impressionist Jay Pharoah landed one of the most coveted jobs in comedy: cast member on Saturday Night Live.

In the six years since, Pharoah has become known for his spot-on takes of stars like Jay-Z and Denzel Washington, as well as being part of the legendary comedy show’s more hilarious recent sketches, but it’s probably from his eventual accession to SNL’s resident Obama impressionist that most people recognize him (although his version of former GOP candidate Ben Carson was pretty fantastic too)

Just recently, Pharoah spent some time helping Pepsi promote its Pepsi Spire, the beverage giant’s newest soda fountain. Enstars recently caught up with Pharaoh to talk about the futuristic drink machine, mastering the art of acting exactly like other people and that mind-blowing SNL episode with Ariana Grande.

Enstars: What did you think when you were introduced to Pepsi Spire? It seems really futuristic.
Jay Pharoah: It is futuristic....when they told me what I was doing, I said "for real?" If I get to mess with people and I get paid to mess with them, I throw jokes back and forth. If you mess with me, I mess with you.

Did you get to play around with it and figure out a favorite flavor combo/creation?
I put in lemon, peach and grape, and it was good. That's the good thing about this is you can pretty much pick what you want that suits your taste buds. Most people are like, "this is an innovative digital beverage challenge"...you can do whatever you want to do. I pick Diet Pepsi and I mix a few flavors with that.

So you crashed an Arby's to introduce the Spire? Can you describe the set-up and how people reacted?
The set-up was basically they had a camera on the top of the machine and they had me in the studio next door. And the camera that was inside of the Arby's, that was my camera to see people with and they could see me through the screen. So it was a back and forth type thing. There were some people who were scared, some people were really rockin' with it, some didn't understand what I was saying...but everything we did was really fun. Some of the people were all, "Oh, wait a minute, what's happening?" But everybody just had fun.

You're really well-know for your impressions. Is there any kind of technique or skill that helped you master that so perfectly?
There's a few things you can do. Me, personally, sometimes I [take a voice] and see what two voices make up that voice...and then I just imagine the person is saying the same thing I'm saying at the same time...some people can't do it. It's a really special connectivity for the character to be able to pull something off like that. I'm not tootin' my own horn, I'm just saying it's not that easy. But you can get it--you just gotta picture it, you gotta grave the light. It's basically painting a picture of people when you're doing an impression. And I guess the best painter, you're like Michelangelo, you're Leonardo, whatever, I'm not saying I am, but I'm just using a parable

Do your impression skills help you create characters that really stand out?
Definitely. Most of the characters that you see people do, do impressions of folks who aren't famous or that nobody knows. Or, sometimes, a celebrity will [play] a person and do them in a movie and remake them. For instance, Johnny Depp is doing Keith Richards when he's doing Jack Sparrow. That's all it is. But he adds a little extra point to it...I think the best characters are based on normal people and it's just can you bring those to life and make someone else say, "I know that person personally"...I think you can use your impression ability to create fascinating characters and most memorable characters are based off of other people.

I think most people were really blown away with Ariana Grande's impression skills on the recent SNL episode (both singing different styles & as Jennifer Lawrence). What did you think? Did you give her any advice?
No, at the table read, I was looking at her like, "Wow! That's spot on!" She wowed me and you know, I'm the impression guy. She's talented, man, and a total sweetheart...I would've loved to work more projects with her with Pepsi, that would be really fun. She impressed everybody. And most people who can sing, they can act, they can do impressions, those are the people that people are like, "Oh my god, they're so amazing."

It looks like you're in a couple upcoming animated features (Sing & The Adventures of Drunky). Is voice work like that something you've always wanted to try?
Yeah, I've been doing impressions since I was six-years-old and the first people I've impersonated were cartoon characters. I've always been fascinated by animation so now to be in movies with people I look up to, it's really a blessing. I love it. I'm doing a movie with Scarlett Johanssen, Reese Witherspoon, Matthew McConaughey, Sam Rockwell (who is like my favorite actor) it's kind of surreal...I love doing everything, whether it's cartoons, whether it's sitting in a Pepsi Spire machine, I just have fun.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Related