You know him, and you love him — and now, you’re going to be inspired by him. SNL star Kenan Thompson’s new era is all about giving a voice to those who may be afraid of talking about their health, and for those who have to balance a health condition and parenting all at the same time.
Phathom Pharmaceuticals, Inc and Thompson are teaming up for VOQUEZNA’s “GERD Is No Joke” campaign to both raise awareness about the condition, as well as encourage people to advocate for themselves and get treatment.
When speaking with SheKnows, Thompson reflected on how “grateful” he was able to partner with them so that they could “come up with a cool enough campaign that makes it make sense that I’m involved, as opposed to just being a famous person saying, ‘Take this medicine’ kind of thing.”
Now, why does it make sense that he’s involved? Well, Thompson has non-erosive GERD. Also known as NERD, it’s a type of gastroesophageal reflux disease — a condition where one’s stomach contents flow back into the esophagus. When this happens, it doesn’t cause visible damage to the esophageal lining, but it can cause chest pain, difficulty swallowing, chronic coughing and more, per Loyola Medicine.
“It’s like a more extreme version of heartburn basically, and I wasn’t able to medicate that with over-the-counter stuff anymore — I actually needed [a] more professional approach,” Thompson explained. “So I talked to a doctor and was able to get a prescription, and it worked for me. So I’m here to spread the word because I know there’s a lot of people that don’t wanna go to the doctor, or there’s a stigma about never wanting to like deal with doctor stuff or hospitals at all, and stuff like that.”
Despite dealing with such a debilitating condition, Thompson’s positivity radiates through. While many know him as the perpetually-comedic actor who gets you belly laughing in two seconds, sitting one-on-one with him is like talking to your wise pal who knows all the answers. When talking with Thompson, he spoke with the perfect balance of seriousness and lightheadedness. And every time one of us mentioned his daughters, his face instantly lit up — making him one of the sweetest girl dads in Hollywood.
In fact, he told SheKnows that being a dad gave him a “lightbulb moment” when it came to talking about his health.
“It was another light bulb moment where it’s like, ‘Oh, I’m not just out here existing to myself. My decisions affect others,’” he said. “It’s different from being in a relationship. It is kind of known that as an adult you take care of yourself, and [you can] be a little more relaxed on your discipline in life when your health is concerned. But when actually becomes a problem, there’s nothing more scary. There’s nothing more scary than not being able to do what you’re used to being able to do.”
Thompson has two daughters — Georgia Marie, born in June 2014, and Gianna Michelle, born in July 2018 — with his ex-wife Christina Evangeline.
When we were chatting about his daughters, he spoke about so many wonderful moments, such as them being on the SNL set, and doing a Nintendo commercial together. “That was pretty awesome. Like, that was one of my favorite days of being an actor ever, because my little ones had their own trailer. It was amazing. It was adorable,” he said.
But that moment was just one of many for the proud girl dad. During his chat with SheKnows, Thompson said he couldn’t quite articulate the emotional experience of being a parent.
“I guess it’s hard to describe [the] feeling. I know there’s been great writers and great poets in the world and stuff like that. I’ve read and heard about being a parent for years, but it’s just in one ear and out the other until you actually become it,” he reflected. “Once you become one, you can hear the music and you can hear the songs and you understand the poems all of a sudden and why everybody’s crying at the end of movies. It just puts it all into perspective, and you just feel like apologizing to your parents.”
The impact of Thompson’s NERD symptoms infiltrated all areas of his life — not least of all, his ability to be a fully-present dad — but Thompson says he “really started paying attention” when his symptoms began to impact his career.
“As a dad, you always wanna be your most present, best self if you can. They deserve your best self if they can get it,” he said. “And then, yeah, as far as like my professional career is concerned, it’s not great if I lose my voice and stuff like that, or if like I get hoarse, or raspy, and I’m not able to do certain impressions that I’m used to being able to do because of vocal range and stuff like that.”
As a parent dealing with a chronic health condition, he knows firsthand what comes along with the fears. “It’s not easy to think about your mortality like that. When you’re having health issues, it becomes a forefront-of-the-brain kind of thing. That’s an emotional thing, especially when you have kids. You never want to think about not being there for them at any sort of time in their lives when they might need you. It’s a tough pill to swallow,” he told SheKnows, adding how he wants other parents with health conditions to know they’re not alone — and that they don’t have to suffer in silence. That phrase means a lot to Thompson, especially since he admitted that’s exactly what was doing for quite some time.
“I was like, ‘Oh, wow.’ Like I actually was suffering for a while, and then I was able to achieve relief pretty quickly once I spoke to someone else about it. Thinking that you have all the answers is just crazy.”
The star of Good Burger and Trolls World Tour (both of which he told us are his daughters’ favorite roles of his), Thompson describes himself as “an advocate for better decision-making,” adding, “Google isn’t gonna just tell you everything. You have to share what’s going on with you. I understand that can feel invasive. It can make people feel kind of nervous or embarrassed or whatever it is. But it’s better to be healthy and feel good than it is to worry about embarrassment, I think.”
Thompson is full of jokes — and words of wisdom. Specifically, when asked about what he’d like to tell people who may feel embarrassed or scared about discussing their health, he said, “It’s a part of life. You only get the courage on the other side of things. So you only get the courage after you do the things you’re scared of. I never thought that I would be sitting here or even experiencing that, let alone sharing it with the world.”
Check out gerdisnojoke.com for more information.
These celebrity fathers are all proud to be “girl dads.”
