Biography
Comedian Kristen Wiig gained fame as a breakout performer on "Saturday Night Live" (NBC, 1975- ) and used the exposure as a springboard into a successful and nuanced film career. Born in Canandaigua, New York, she moved to Los Angeles after college to pursue acting. Before long, she began performing with the improvisational group The Groundlings. Her stage work led to a recurring role on the faux reality show "The Joe Schmo Show" (Spike, 2003-04) playing a marriage counselor. She began earning small roles on television, including an appearance on "The Drew Carey Show" (ABC, 1994-2004). Wiig joined the cast of "SNL" in 2005. During her seven seasons, the comedian became one of the show's breakout performers with characters like Dooneese, a woman with incredibly small hands, the one-upping Penelope, and mischievous schoolgirl Gilly. While still a cast member on the show, she began appearing in small supporting roles in films such as "Unaccompanied Minors" (2006), "Knocked Up" (2007), "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" (2007), "Adventureland" (2009), "Date Night" (2010), and "Paul" (2011). She also teamed with fellow cast member Will Forte for a film based on the popular sketch "MacGruber" (2010). The actress had a recurring role as well on the comedy "Bored to Death" (HBO, 2009-11) with Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson and Zach Galifianakis. Her film career took a giant leap forward when she wrote and starred in the broad comedy "Bridesmaids" (2011). Acting alongside Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, and fellow "SNL" veteran Maya Rudolph, she played a woman spiraling out of control in advance of her best friend's wedding. The film was a critical and commercial success, proving that Wiig could handle a lead role. She would team with Rudolph again as part of the ensemble cast of Jennifer Westfeldt's "Friends with Kids" (2011). She then starred with Elijah Wood and Oscar Isaac in "Revenge for Jolly!" (2012) and headlined "Girl Most Likely" (2012). On television, she had a multiple episode run on "Arrested Development" (Fox/Netflix, 2003- ) playing the younger version of Jessica Walter's Lucille Bluth. She starred with Guy Pearce in "Hateship Loveship" (2013) and with Ben Stiller in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (2013). After appearing in "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues" (2013), she formed a unique partnership with star, and fellow "SNL" alum, Will Farrell. Wiig starred with the comedian in a series of tongue-in-cheek dramatic TV projects, "The Spoils of Babylon" (IFC, 2014), "A Deadly Adoption" (Lifetime, 2015), and "The Spoils Before Dying" (IFC, 2015). She teamed with another former "SNL" castmate, Bill Hader, for "The Skeleton Twins" (2014) with the pair playing twins trying to reconnect with one another. She continued a run of quirky roles with "Welcome to Me" (2014), playing a mentally unbalanced woman who wins the lottery, and "The Diary of a Teenage Girl" (2015). She also joined Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain for the Oscar-nominated "The Martian" (2015). After teaming with Stiller and Farrell for the sequel "Zoolander 2" (2016), Wiig tried her hand at starring in a big-budget blockbuster. The actress partnered with McCarthy, along with Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones, for a reboot of "Ghostbusters" (2016). The film touched off a media firestorm with some fans of the original movie complaining about the all-female lineup, and women's rights activists firing back over the misogynistic undertones of the complaints. The controversy didn't help the film as it failed to live up to expectations. On television, she made appearances as part of the all-star comedy ensemble for "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp" (Netflix, 2015) and "Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later" (Netflix, 2017). The lack of success by "Ghostbusters" didn't deter her film career, as she starred with Owen Wilson and Galifianakis in "Masterminds" (2016) and with Damon in "Downsizing" (2017). She also took a small role in the Darren Aronofsky-Jennifer Lawrence project "Mother!" (2017). On television, she had a recurring role on Forte's sitcom "The Last Man on Earth" (Fox, 2015-18) and appeared, as herself, on the McCarthy produced comedy "Nobodies" (TV Land/Paramount, 2017-18). During the marriage of England's Prince Harry to Meghan Markle, Wiig partnered with Farrell and Molly Shannon for the spoof "The Royal Wedding Live with Cord and Trish!" (HBO, 2018). The actress appeared with Cate Blanchett in Richard Linklater's "Where'd You Go, Bernadette?" (2018) and wrote and starred in "Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar" (2020). She produced and provided voices for the animated sitcom "Bless the Harts" (Fox, 2019- ). Wiig joined the superhero set by playing the villainous Cheetah opposite Gal Gadot in "Wonder Woman 1984" (2020).
