Kenan Thompson is an icon of sketch comedy. He’s the longest-running Saturday Night Live cast member in its 50-year history, but despite such achievements, it seems many fans still remember him from his days doing comedy on Nickelodeon in the ‘90s, and they even confuse him with the other guy.
Kenan Thompson got his start on All That, which was basically Saturday Night Live for tweens in the ‘90s. He’s most remembered for his work alongside friend Kel Mitchell. Thompson tells EW that the pair were apparently so popular together that many fans call him by the wrong name, though he doesn’t mind. Thompson said…
I definitely get called Kel a lot. People just confidently call me Kel, which is fine because I know what they're trying to say. They're just trying to say, 'I remember you from that show.'
The most famous sketch from All That was Good Burger, which saw Keenan and Kel as hapless employees of a fast food restaurant. It was so popular that the sketch got the movie treatment in 1997, and the nostalgia for it was so strong that we got Good Burger 2 in 2023 (available with a Paramount+ subscription). They've even teased additional Good Burger sequels.
Kenan and Kel were such big hits back then that they even got their own Nickelodeon sitcom, simply titled Kenan & Kel. It seems that while people may have watched them for years, a lot of people never knew which one was which.
At the end of the day, Kenan Thompson doesn’t care if people call him by the wrong name. The fact that people get him confused with his friend and co-star is simply an indication that people loved their work together. They can call him whatever they like. He doesn't even bother to correct people when they call him by the wrong name. Thompson continued…
Kel's my brother, so I don't mind pretending to be that name when people call me that. It is just all love, man. We've been very lucky to do a lot of work that makes people happy. So most of the people that approach me are usually doing it out of love and excitement, which is nice.
Celebrities actually get mistaken for other celebrities quite often. It's not particularly uncommon, and considering that the two were so often on screen together, this sort of confusion is at least understandable.
It’s one thing if somebody tells you they’re a fan of a piece of work you never actually did. At least Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell were working together, so the fans are telling them how much they love the work they did together, even if they’re not entirely sure who they’re talking to.