Your colleagues on the show say that with any impression, you are always the most stressed about making sure that it is not mean for no reason. Why? It’s a source of tremendous stress. You don’t want it to be toothless, because then it’s not funny. But I always try to make it empathetic. Particularly with Justin Bieber. I’m very worried about him being upset.

Why are you worried about that? I love him. I love them all. They’re like my children.

You’re an outspoken Hillary Clinton supporter, but your impression of her sort of dovetails with the haters’ assessment of Hillary: that she is pathologically ambitious and insincere. Do you fret about that? Um, yes. But it’s my job to make comedy out of current events. A good impression is sort of a juxtaposition of disparate elements. For instance, Angela Merkel, to me, is a very emotional German; she may not be in real life, but that’s how the writers and I conceived of the character. With Hillary, it’s that she’s a staunch, passionate lady, and in our culture, unfortunately, there’s something funny about that.

In order to nail an impression, do you have to share some of that person’s DNA? What part of Hillary Clinton is part of you? Yeah, what I find so lovable about her is her conviction. And I feel like I have that. I just love how badly she wants to fix stuff. I would like to do that. I’m just not smart enough.

Would a male politician be similarly mocked for his ambition? No, I don’t think so. If you had a man saying the same things, that would not qualify as a comedic character. I think that says more about our culture than it does about her.

When Tina Fey did Sarah Palin, she worried about having an effect on the election, pro or con. What do you worry about when you do Hillary? I unequivocally want her to win, and I don’t really think I have the power to sway anything.

Would you like to play Donald Trump? I would have a hard time.