SNL's Kate McKinnon reveals the secret to nailing comedy sketches... and how she felt 'naked' acting in new movie The Spy Who Dumped Me

Published: 15:59 BST, 26 June 2018 | Updated: 22:22 BST, 26 June 2018

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From Justin Bieber to Jeff Sessions, Kate McKinnon always nails her Saturday Night Live characters.

And now the 34-year-old has revealed her secret to nailing such diverse characters - plenty of research.

Glamour's August cover model explained that the trick was simply: 'So many YouTube videos. Me, alone in my office, talking back to YouTube videos.'

SNL's Kate McKinnon reveals the secret to nailing comedy sketches... and how she felt 'naked' acting in new movie The Spy Who Dumped Me

She starts her impersonations by looking at the technicalities of how her targets talk, then adding in flashes of their personality.

'I like to devise axioms and notice patterns of what works and what doesn’t so I can codify those into little rules I can use,' she told Glamour. 'If someone has a vocal tic or an accent, it’s so much easier to hook into something. It always starts with the way they talk, and then you add the layer of their energy.'

After nailing the person's character, she then looks at their recent behavior.

'Then it all depends on what they’ve done that week. They can’t just be someone who did something five months ago. It’s got to be à la minute.'

Opening up: The August issue of Glamour is available on newsstands July 3

But while Kate's hilarious SNL moments have seen her become the show's longest-serving female castmember, for her new project she will not be hiding behind any wigs or masks.

In The Spy Who Dumped Me McKinnon will be acting alongside Mila Kunis as a main lead.

She told the magazine: 'I spend so much time in wigs and doing these voices that having to use my own voice made me feel quite naked.'