Keegan-Michael Key Maintains He and Jordan Peele Have a 'Good' Friendship, Despite Not Seeing Each Other 'Often' (Exclusive)
The duo, who previously starred in their own sketch comedy series, have drifted apart in recent years to focus on different projects
The duo, who previously starred in their own sketch comedy series, have drifted apart in recent years to focus on different projects Jeremy Chan/Getty Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele in September 2022.:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/Keegan-Michael-Key-and-Jordan-Peele-attend-the-Wendell-and-Wild-Premiere-011625-eb43e3d2d1f14e8fbf6d20de20bca931.jpg "Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele attend the")
Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele remain close.
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Key, 53, opens up about maintaining a friendship with his Key & Peele collaborator, months after he expressed that the two don't get to see each other "often."
"Whenever we have an opportunity to see each other, we do. Whenever we have an opportunity," Key says.
"I certainly enjoy spending time with him, so when my travels take me to Los Angeles, he's usually one of the first calls that I make. I land, and I go, 'Hey buddy, we're in town,' and often we get to have dinner," he continues.
"Our relationship is like a good friend's relationship, where you pick up where you left off, or the little things that you shared in the past, you just go right back into it again," adds Key. "I look forward to seeing him in 2025."
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Unique Nicole/Getty Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele in October 2022.
Key and Peele, 45, first collaborated together in the mid-2000s, when they starred in Fox’s MADtv. They then went on to launch their own sketch comedy series, which ran from 2012 to 2015.
The duo also produced and starred in the 2016 action-comedy film Keanu, appeared together in the first season of FX’s Fargo and voiced paired characters in 2019’s Toy Story 4 and 2022’s Wendell & Wild.
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But, as Key explained to PEOPLE in September 2024, he and Peele haven't often been able to make time for one another — professionally and personally — as of late, because “your lives start to evolve and move in different directions.”
“Our evolution, I think, is tied to both of what our desires are,” continued Key. “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.”
Currently, Key — who has partnered with Jim Beam for their “7 Stages of Defeat” care package — has multiple projects lined up, while Peele is working on directing another film, his fourth overall.
