For a decade, Kate McKinnon was the undisputed gravity well of Saturday Night Live. Whether she was getting probed by aliens as the cigarette-ash-covered Colleen Rafferty or delivering the most hauntingly poignant “Hallelujah” as Hillary Clinton, McKinnon didn’t perform sketches: she staged hostile takeovers of Studio 8H.
But since her 2022 exit, the question has shifted from “Who is she playing tonight?” to “What exactly is Kate McKinnon building?”
The answer, it turns out, is a career as eclectic and fearless as her characters. While she’s spent the last year winning over New York Times readers with her bestselling “mad science” novels and casually conquering the box office as Weird Barbie, McKinnon is currently on the precipice of her most ambitious move yet.
Breaking the “Funny Lady” Mold
The standard post-SNL roadmap for a star of McKinnon’s caliber is usually paved with generic studio comedies, the kind where you play the “zany best friend” for a massive paycheck until the residuals dry up. But McKinnon has never been standard. She spent the better part of 2025 pivoting toward projects that prioritize intellect and “weirdness” over easy punchlines.
In 2026, the industry is curious about McKinnon’s lead role in the upcoming sci-fi epic, In the Blink of an Eye. Directed by Pixar legend Andrew Stanton (Wall-E, Finding Nemo), the film is a sweeping, philosophical triptych that explores thousands of years of human history. This isn’t a “sketch comedy actor in a movie”; this is a major dramatic play.
The Sci-Fi Pivot: In the Blink of an Eye
Scheduled for a high-profile premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2026, In the Blink of an Eye is already making waves. The film recently secured the prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Prize, an award given to movies that provide the most sophisticated depictions of science and technology.
McKinnon stars alongside Rashida Jones and Daveed Diggs in a story that intertwines three separate timelines: a prehistoric struggle for survival, a modern-day romance between anthropologists, and a future-set sci-fi narrative. McKinnon anchors the futuristic segment, playing Coakley, a woman on a deep-space voyage who must contend with a sentient onboard computer and a mysterious blight threatening the ship’s ecosystem.
For those who only know her from “Weekend Update” characters, seeing McKinnon navigate a role described as “warm, gentle, and profoundly philosophical” might be a shock. But for those who saw the raw talent beneath the prosthetics at 30 Rock, it feels like the role she was always destined for. She’s trading the rubber faces for a meditation on mortality and connection, and early reports suggest she shines.
Other McKinnon projects
Beyond the big screen, McKinnon’s mystery series, The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science, has become a genuine literary phenomenon, with its sequel Secrets of the Purple Pearl currently dominating the charts. She’s also lending her voice to A Minecraft Movie, proving she can still play in the massive studio sandbox when it suits her.
Fans who want to track how her career trajectory stacks up against the all-time greats should take a look at the Kate McKinnon rankings to see just how high her ceiling really is.
In the Blink of an Eye will hit Hulu on February 27, 2026. If you were expecting “Weird Barbie” in space, prepare to be surprised. McKinnon is aiming for something much more permanent.
