Comedians Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele first connected at The Second City in Chicago, where their careers later launched in 2004 on Fox’s MADtv. Their natural chemistry and shared passion for comedy fostered a creative partnership, extending beyond the stage as they developed their comedic vision together.
“We lived together for a few months and would write and talk about comedy — who we liked and why we liked them and how that worked in the architecture of what we were trying to build comedically,” Key told People.
The pair also starred in their sketch comedy series Key & Peele, which ran for five seasons on Comedy Central from 2012 to 2015. Nearly a decade after the Emmy-winning show ended, Key, 45, reflected on their separation in recent years.
“We don’t see each other that often anymore,” he told the outlet, referring to Peele. “Which is, to me, a tragedy.”
Key and Peele have collaborated on various projects since the success of their hit series. They starred in and produced the action-comedy film Keanu (2016), appeared in the first season of FX’s Fargo and voiced characters in Toy Story 4 (2019) and Wendell & Wild (2022).
Despite their career achievements, Key emphasized that “your lives start to evolve and move in different directions” as they explored new opportunities.
“Our evolution, I think, is tied to both of what our desires are,” the Michigan native said, per People. “His desire was to start exploring the horror genre, and my desire was to do more dramatic work like I had been trained in school.” After Key & Peele’s success, “both of us jumped to another platform — but we needed that first platform.”
Key’s recent work includes television series and films like The Prom, Wonka, IF and Transformers One. Meanwhile, Peele made his directorial debut with the award-winning movie Get Out (2017)and went on to direct Us (2019) and Nope (2022). Key has yet to appear in any of Peele’s films.
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