Whoopi Goldberg and Leslie Jones

If Whoopi Goldberg was going to be impersonated on Saturday Night Live, the least they could do was nail her iconic glasses. The co-host welcomed a trio of former SNL stars to The View‘s Hot Topics table this morning, where they shared their experiences as female cast members ahead of SNL‘s 50th anniversary celebration on Feb. 16.

Laraine Newman, Julia Sweeney and Leslie Jones all joined The View today, where Jones reflected on playing Goldberg on the iconic late night show in the 2019 sketch “The View: Jenny McCarthy on Vaccines.” Of course, before Jones gave SNL her best Goldberg, veteran cast member Kenan Thompson did it first.

Goldberg admitted that seeing Thompson and Jones onscreen was “like looking at myself twice,” which prompted Jones to exclaim, “He loved it, he loved it! He actually loved playing you.”

Thompson played Goldberg on The View multiple times between 2008 and 2011, most often at the Hot Topics table. Some of his notable sketches as Goldberg include “The View: Disney Studios,” “The View: Mel Gibson,” and “The View: Kate Gosselin.”

As Goldberg, Thompson donned a long wig and wore distinct glasses, which are some what of a Goldberg signature.

“Did he give you the glasses?” Goldberg asked Jones, who told her, “No! I remember getting a text from you saying, ‘Imma bring you some glasses, ’cause you need to have better glasses when you doing this.’”

Sure enough, Jones upgraded Goldberg’s look on SNL with some smaller green frames, a marked shift from Thompson’s oversized black pair.

On a more serious note, Goldberg said it was refreshing to see Jones play her on SNL after a man portrayed her on the show for so long. Since then, Ego Nwodim has also played Goldberg on SNL.

“One of the things that we loved about when SNL did us was that finally women were playing us. Because for the longest time it was all these guys playing us,” Goldberg said, which caused Joy Behar to pipe up, “You and me, you and me. We were played by guys.”

Behar was played by Fred Armisen in SNL‘s “The View: Disney Studios” sketch, but Kate McKinnon and Sarah Sherman played her on the show in more recent years.

Goldberg replied, “This is true. But it was a big deal.”

The View airs weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.