Keegan-Michael Key Says He and Jordan Peele 'Don't See Each Other That Often Anymore': 'A Tragedy' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

(Left-right:) Keegan-Michael Key in 2023; Jordan Peele in 2023.Photo:Jeff Spicer/Getty; Jeff Spicer/Getty

Jeff Spicer/Getty; Jeff Spicer/Getty

WhenKeegan-Michael Keyfirst metJordan Peele, he says, “It was a thrilling time in my life.”

Years before the duo known as Key & Peele would launch their 2012–2015 sketch comedy series of that name, the two were “sharing a mind” starring on Fox’sMADtvstarting in 2004, Key, 53, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue.

“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,” he says.

Because they had both previously trained at Chicago’s Second City and “shared a creative language,” adds Key, “when we were on camera, it was alchemy. It was just like, ‘Why is this working?’”

Unfortunately, in the near-decade since theEmmy-winningKey & Peeleconcluded on Comedy Central, “we don’t see each other that often anymore,” he says of Peele, 45. “Which is, to me, a tragedy.”

(Left-right:) Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele in 2022.Unique Nicole/Getty

Unique Nicole/Getty

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

But, as Key notes, “your lives start to evolve and move in different directions.” Peele and wifeChelsea Perettilive in Los Angeles while Key and hiswife Elleare in New York City, he adds.

“Our evolution, I think, is tied to both of what our desires are,” continues theTransformers Onestar. “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.” AfterKey & Peele’s success, “both of us jumped to another platform — but we needed that first platform.”

(Left-right:) Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key in ‘Key & Peele’.Danny Feld / Comedy Central / courtesy Everett

Danny Feld / Comedy Central / courtesy Everett

Season 1 ofKey & Peelefeatures “not a lot of improvising,” he recalls. “It wasn’t till the second season, third season that [we’d] loosen up and improvise… And we wrote some sketches that were just very strange and weird. And that was a fun part of the evolution.”

Animated prequelTransformers One, in which Key plays B-127 a.k.a. Bumblebee, is in theaters now. It also features the voices ofChris Hemsworth,Brian Tyree HenryandScarlett Johansson.

For more on Key, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribehere.

source: people.com