Jim Carrey will portray Joe Biden in the next series of 'Saturday Night Live'

Showrunner Lorne Michaels told Vulture: "There was some interest on his part. And then we responded, obviously, positively.

"But it came down to discussions about what the take was.

"He and Colin Jost had a bunch of talks. He and I as well.

"He will give the part energy and strength. Hopefully it's funny."

Woody Harrelson and Jason Sudeikis have previously played the politician on the show, but Lorne is "thrilled" to have Jim on board.

He added: "Obviously Woody [Harrelson] did Biden on the first show last season and did it brilliantly.

"Jason [Sudeikis] has done it in the past. Part of it also is whoever does it has to basically relocate to New York because of quarantine.

"So, there were a lot of factors involved in that. But I'm thrilled Jim's doing it."

The programme will welcome back the entire cast from last season, along with three new additions; singer-and-actress Lauren Holt, 'Space Force' writer Punkie Johnson, and 'SNL' staff writer Andrew Dismukes.

However, there will also be some limitations after schedules were shuffled on various other projects due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Lorne explained: "Kate [McKinnon] will be back for all these election shows. So many people had committed to doing projects in the summer, which then got moved.

"So Aidy [Bryant] has been doing 'Shrill', and she'll be here for some shows and have to go back to that for others.

"Cecily [Strong] is doing a project in Vancouver, but we'll green screen her for things. People will stay involved, but they may not physically be in the studio."