Kenan Thompson Says Mighty Ducks Role Nearly Made Him Quit Acting
Chris Redd Breaks Silence on Relationship With Kenan Thompson’s Ex Christina Evangeline
Kenan & Kel was almost just…Kel.
Kenan Thompson revealed he nearly quit acting after struggling to nail the ins and outs of hockey for his debut role in 1994’s D2: The Mighty Ducks.
“I put it on my resume under special skills that I could roller skate, but you know, I never in a million years considered hockey,” Thompson told Amy Poehler on the Sept. 1 episode of her Good Hang podcast. “I wanted to learn, but after that first day of hockey camp, which was on my birthday, my 15th birthday, I wanted to quit it all.”
But Thompson’s mother Elizabeth Ann Thompson wasn’t about to let him throw in the towel that easily.
“I was like, ‘I don’t want to be an actor. I don’t want to if this is what it’s about,’” he recalled. “Thank God my mom didn’t let me quit.”
And his training paid off in more ways than one.
After he “kept going back and back” to practice, the 48-year-old now passes as a pro on the ice, with Poehler—who starred on Saturday Night Live with Thompson from 2003 to 2008—praising his “incredible” skating skills.
