Al Franken on Playing U.S. Senator in ‘The Residence’ After Scandal (Exclusive) ArticlePure

Al Franken is reprising one of his most important roles.

In Netflix’s latest whodunit, The Residence, the former politician, 73, plays a fictional senator named Aaron Filkins.

The murder mystery series, which premiered on March 20, stars Uzo Aduba as Detective Cordelia Cupp, who launches an investigation after a dead body turns up in The White House. The Shondaland production follows the search for a killer in a house of 132 rooms filled with 157 suspects after “a disastrous State dinner.”

While speaking exclusively with PEOPLE at the show’s world premiere, Franken opened up about how his role in the series came to be. “I did not audition. It just came to me,” he explains. “They asked me to do it and I went, ‘I haven’t done this in a while. I hope I can do it!'”

Despite having doubts, when the Saturday Night Live alum read the script, he knew how “great” it was. “I wasn’t sure that I would great in it, but I wanted to do it,” he says.

Franken quickly got back into the groove. In fact, he found himself giving pointers to his costars on how politicians conduct themselves in real life.

“There’s a big difference. I had to tell everyone around me how to act,” he recalls. “You’re thinking of a different kind of performance art when you’re in the Senate than when you’re actually acting.”

Franken also drew from his own experiences when he learned that his character was described as “avuncular.”

“That made me think of some of my former colleagues,” he said. “Chuck Grassley is avuncular. Lindsey Graham can be avuncular. Lamar Alexander from Tennessee was avuncular.”

To fully get into the role, he adds, “I got a different pair of glasses and I [parted] my hair on a different side and I was a whole new different person.”

Franken was elected to the Senate as a Democrat from Minnesota in 2008 and served from 2009 until he stepped down in 2018 following sexual misconduct allegations by multiple women. The Senate Ethics Committee launched an investigation into the second-term senator when multiple women came forward.

One woman, a former Democratic congressional aide, alleged that Franken tried to forcibly kiss her after a taping of his radio show in 2006. Franken, who has been married to wife Franni Bryson since 1975, has repeatedly apologized for his inappropriate behavior, which he said was unintentional but “crossed a line” for some women.

Morning news anchor at KABC radio in Los Angeles Leeann Tweeden alleged that Franken groped and forcibly kissed her during a USO tour in 2006. She also released a photo of Franken apparently grabbing her breasts while she was sleeping. She later said she accepted Franken’s subsequent apology and didn’t think he had to step down.

When Franken gave an emotional resignation speech from the Senate floor, he said, “Some of the allegations against me are simply not true. Others I remember very differently.”

At least eight Democratic senators called for his resignation, including Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Patty Murray of Washington, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Kamala Harris of California, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. And at least three male Democratic senators called for him to step down, including Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania.

“This decision is not about me. It’s about the people of Minnesota,” Franken said during his resignation speech. “It’s become clear that I can’t both pursue the Ethics Committee process and at the same time remain an effective senator for them. Let me be clear: I may be resigning my seat but I am not giving up my voice.”

Three years later, Franken said he was keeping his options “open” about running for office again. “It was a very weird, tough situation at that moment,” Franken said of his resignation, per The Hill. “I love the Senate. I love the work that I did.”

Franken, who was a writer and features player at Saturday Night Live throughout the years from 1975-1995, most recently appeared at the SNL 50th anniversary event in February and the Peacock documentary SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night.

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The Residence is available to stream on Netflix.