Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key have been friends and colleagues for years, but it turns out they don’t see each other ‘that often’ anymore.
That’s according to Key, who first met the acclaimed filmmaker while working at Second City in Chicago more than two decades ago.
But over time and the success of both men, who were both hired to work on the sketch comedy series MADtv, their relationship has changed.
During a recent interview with People Key recounted Saturday how he and Peel co-created Comedy Central’s Key & Peele sketch series in 2012, but that the duo has since parted ways.
Key called the change in the dynamic of their friendship “a tragedy,” attributing it to the way people reach a point where “their lives evolve and go in a different direction.”
Keegan-Michael Key, 53, revealed how his friendship with Jordan Peele, 45, has changed and they don’t see each other ‘as much anymore’
The Parks and Recreation star told the newspaper that the couple actually lived together while they built their professional partnership.
They ultimately won one Primetime Emmy Award out of a total of 10 nominations during the series’ run.
Ultimately, Key & Peele ended their three-year stint on Comedy Central in 2015, and about a decade later, Peele and his actress wife, Chelsea Peretti, built a home in Los Angeles.
“We lived together for a few months and wrote and talked about comedy: who we liked and why we liked them and how that worked into the architecture of what we were trying to build comedically,” Key, 53, revealed.
Because of all the time they spent together being creative, they reached a point where they “shared a creative language.”
While the American writer and director was creating his new home situation, Key and his wife, the producer Elle, were living in New York City. That can create not only a distance in kilometers, but also between people.
As a creative duo, the comedians have won two Emmy Awards for Key & Peele, including one for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series in 2016 and another for Outstanding Makeup Achievements that year.
In total, the two men received 18 Emmy nominations as a duo over the years.
They later worked side by side in the first season of FX’s Fargo (2014), playing a pair of FBI agents investigating the murderous Lorne Malvo, played by Billy Bob Thornton.
After both being hired for Madtv more than two decades ago, Key and Peele created Comedy Central’s Key & Peele sketch series in 2012; they appeared on Beverly Hills around that time
The duo worked on the Key & Peele series for about three years, from 2012 to 2015
They then co-produced and starred in the action film Keanu (2016) and voiced characters in the films Toy Story 4 (2019) and Wendell & Wild (2022).
Key currently stars in the animated film Transformers One, while other characters are voiced by Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson.
Peele would later achieve great individual success by writing, directing, and producing his psychological horror film Get Out (2017), which grossed $255.4 million worldwide against a budget of just $4.5 million.
Key currently stars in the animated film Transformers One, while other characters are voiced by Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson
The two longtime friends eventually lived apart after spending time together creating their art, with Peele in Los Angeles and Key in New York City; they are pictured in Toronto in September 2022
The New York City native scored another hit as writer, director and producer of his film Us, which grossed $256.1 million on a $20 million budget.
Although the western science fiction horror film Nope (2022) was not a huge success, it can still be considered a success. The film grossed $172.3 million, while $68 million was spent on its production.
In recent days, he has been promoting the action film Monkey Man, for which he is a producer. Dev Patel co-wrote and directed the film. It is the actor’s directorial debut.