Apparently, the physical (and vocal) resemblance between Larry David and Senator Bernie Sanders isn't completely random. The two are actually... related?
While on a Television Critics Association press tour promoting the upcoming ninth season of his HBO show Curb Your Enthusiasm, David mentioned that Sanders is a "third cousin or something"—a fact he only learned about while filming an upcoming episode of Finding Your Roots on PBS.
David, who earned an Emmy nomination for his impression of Sanders on Saturday Night Live in 2015 and 2016, also discussed how the much talked about impersonation came about.
"This Bernie Sanders thing," he said according to Variety. "During the first debate between Bernie and Hillary, [SNL creator] Lorne Michaels got email and calls during the debate, saying that I should be doing Bernie Sanders."
Following the debate, "[WME-IMG co-CEO] Ari Emanuel called me up and said, ‘What did you think?’ And every time I watched Bernie Sanders, I would repeat everything that he said, because I know that I can talk like that. So I started talking to Ari, the agent, I started talking to him like Bernie." Emanuel then called Michaels who reached out to David directly... and, boy, are we glad he did.
Below, one of our favorite David-as-Sanders SNL segments:
