Why Kenan Thompson Continues to Stay at “Saturday Night Live” After 22 Seasons: ‘What a Blessing’ (Exclusive)

Kenan Thompson has the honor of being Saturday Night Live’s longest-tenured cast member, with 22 seasons under his belt. In this week’s PEOPLE issue, the comedian, 46, calls working on NBC's late-night sketch variety series “hands down” the best job in television.

“It's crazy because most people do eight [seasons] max, you know what I mean? Or 12. But it's a one-of-a-kind place,” Thompson says. “It's the people in front and behind that embrace it, need it. So when they call me, what, am I not supposed to oblige the greatest job in the world? So it's just out of love. What a blessing it is to have steady employment.”

At first, though, Thompson felt like he “was kind of faking it ‘til I made it” on SNL. “I don't remember the material, but I remember the emotions, the nerves,” he says of auditioning for the series. “I remember being enamored by 30 Rock at first. It's a big building outside, small studio inside. I just didn't understand where I was because I'd never seen the behind-the-scenes much.”

Related: Saturday Night Live Turns 50! PEOPLE Celebrates the Sketch Show's Storied History with Special Edition Issue

The father of daughters Georgia, 10, and Gianna, 6, recalls walking through the halls of Studio 8H and wondering, “What is this place?”

“It was very surreal and very stressful because I had to do stand-up without being a stand-up,” Thompson says. “And luckily I made it into a situation where what I really do is good for the show, which is act. I just got lucky, but it was very stressful.”

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The former teen star — who first broke out with Nickelodeon shows All That and Kenan & Kel — says he and his colleagues “were all fans” of Saturday Night Live before joining the show. “And for me, it's hard to identify seeing myself on the show and comparing it to watching the show before I was on it and having it be the same thing,” Thompson says. “It's just a weird thing.”

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Thompson describes the relationship the cast members develop with the audience over the years as “invaluable,” explaining that “it has to be connected for the show to be great.”

Over the decades, Thompson has seen hundreds of guest hosts come through, but he names a Fives-timers club member as one who stands out as being especially prepared. “I remember Melissa McCarthy came in with a lot of ideas and she was like, ‘I just want to throw this out there real quick. I was thinking about these things,’ ” he says. "And they were all hilarious. Melissa always comes in with a few heavy hitters on deck and it's kind of amazing.”

Related: Kenan Thompson Says He Was ‘Always’ Auditioning Against Anthony Anderson in the ‘90s

However, “there are some people that come in strapped,” Thompson notes. “And then there's other people that give the grace to everybody because they know it might be awkward or a lot of pressure or whatever, and they just let the room go around and thank everybody as they go and not really interject too much. And those are great too.”

As SNL rounds out its 50th season, Thompson jokes that he’s been on the show since the beginning. “I've actually been on the show the whole time,” he quips. “If you look, I'm in the back. I've been waving. My audition was actually in 1962.”

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Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

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