'Kamala is like a blessing to me': Lilly Singh on portraying the U.S. vice-president on late-night TV

As a YouTuber-turned-late-night host, Lilly Singh felt somewhat out of her depth talking about politics on her network talk show A Little Late With Lilly Singh, which debuted in 2019.

"In season one I think I was a little scared to get political sometimes because I'm very aware of the identity politics that surround me," she told q host Tom Power. But, she said she's "less scared of that in season two."

The Toronto native — who has the distinction of being the first South Asian queer woman to host a late-night show on a major network — said it's still not her "favourite thing to get really deep into political policy and candidates." But, there was one candidate who had a significant impact on her.

"I talk more about politics [now] because it's the first time I've ever felt included in American politics by seeing [U.S. Vice-President] Kamala Harris," she said. "And Kamala is like a blessing to me."

WATCH | Lilly Singh's full interview with q host Tom Power:

When Harris was sworn in during last month's inauguration ceremony, she became the first woman, the first Black American and the first South Asian American to ever hold the job of U.S. vice-president.

Singh said "Kamala is like a blessing to me" because there's so few other brown people in politics for her to believably parody.

Playing Harris in a sketch

The first time Singh dressed up as Harris in a sketch, her audience went wild on social media, commenting on the striking resemblance between them.

"All I did, Tom, is I changed my makeup ever so slightly and I put on a wig," Singh explained with a laugh. "I'm like, 'Can we just call this like it is? We're both brown. We're both brown and that's why we look alike.'"

"It's actually nice though," she continued. "I will take all the credit because, obviously, when I tried to play Joe Biden, there are certain characteristics about me that prevent me from looking just like Joe Biden."

WATCH | Singh plays her "cousin" Kamala Harris in a sketch:

In 2019, Singh had the opportunity to meet Harris backstage on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, when they were both guests on the show. She said the experience left her "Kamalafied."

"I have a little bit of nerves before I do a late-night appearance and Kamala came to speak to me before I went on stage. And I straight up got Kamalafied," Singh told Power. "Like, she is so invigorating and she is so inspirational that I think I had my best performance on Jimmy Fallon's show ever because I was Kamalafied."

When asked how she felt watching Harris make her first speech as U.S. vice-president on inauguration day, Singh responded that she was surprised to find herself with tears in her eyes.

"I never thought I would be someone that got emotional, specifically over American politics," she said. "I understand how powerful America is. I understand the importance of American politics. But being Canadian, I just never had that emotional tie to what was happening."

It is literally because of moments like this that I get to exist.- Lilly Singh

She tied it back to finally feeling included in American politics and seeing something of herself in Harris.

"I saw how important this was for so many different groups of people. And I witnessed a glass ceiling get shattered, and I thought, 'Wow, it is literally because of moments like this that I get to exist.'"

Hear the full interview with Lilly Singh near the top of this page. Written by Vivian Rashotte.