celebforum - Kristen Wiig

Kristen Carroll Wiig ( born August 22, 1973) is an American comic actress who currently appears as a cast member on Saturday Night Live.

She is a member of the Groundlings, and also appeared in the first season of Spike TV's The Joe Schmo Show.

Wiig was born in Canandaigua, New York. At the age of three she and her family moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and later on to Rochester, New York, where she remained until she graduated from Brighton High School in 1991. She went on to attend the University of Arizona with a major in art. She was hired as a graphic artist by a plastic surgery clinic to show clientele what they would look like after surgery, but left for Los Angeles before ever starting the job to pursue an acting career. In Los Angeles she joined The Groundlings, working "odd jobs".

She was once married to actor/comedian Hayes Hargrove.

Wiig's work was mainly on the comedy circuit, including as a regular performer in The Perks, a featured show at the Empty Stage Comedy Theatre whose run ended in 2000. In 2003 she starred on the Spike TV spoof show The Joe Schmo Show, a satire of reality television in which she played "Dr. Pat", the Quack Marriage Counselor.

Wiig debuted on Saturday Night Live shortly into its 31st season, on November 12, 2005. In Wiig's first sketch, she played the wife of Jason Sudeikis; the two accidentally pick up an escaped murderer (Jason Lee), unwittingly giving the murderer carte blanche to break into their home and violate their blind niece. Wiig survived an SNL budget cut, becoming a full member of the repertory cast at the beginning of the show's 32nd season in 2006. Wiig's characters include Penelope, the one-upper; Gilly, a highly mischievous schoolgirl; Sue, who can't control her excitement over surprises; The Target Lady, a clerk at the chain store and a kitsch collector; and Judy Grimes, a nervous travel agent frequently appearing on Weekend Update. She has also played real-life people such as Suze Orman, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

According to New York magazine, Wiig appeared in more sketches on Saturday Night Live Season 34 than any other cast member, appearing in 124 sketches and averaging 5.8 appearances per episode. She was also the only female regular cast member on SNL during the 34th season, following Amy Poehler's departure to work on the NBC sitcom, Parks and Recreation.

Wiig made her big screen debut in Judd Apatow’s 2007 comedy Knocked Up as Katherine Heigl’s passive-aggressive boss. She also played opposite John C. Reilly in Jake Kasdan’s Walk Hard, another Apatow-produced film, and opposite Ricky Gervais in David Koepp’s Ghost Town. Wiig has also appeared opposite Bill Hader in Greg Mottola’s Adventureland, Mike Judge’s Extract, co-starring Jason Bateman, Ben Affleck, Clifton Collins Jr., and Mila Kunis; and in Whip It, Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut with Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden and Juliette Lewis.

She co-wrote a script with her Groundlings co-worker Annie Mumolo for Universal Pictures. Judd Apatow will produce the film. Upcoming work also includes Greg Mottola’s Paul, co-starring Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman, Jane Lynch, and Bill Hader; “MacGruber” opposite SNL castmate Will Forte; and her first purely dramatic role opposite Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst and Frank Langella in Andrew Jarecki’s All Good Things. Wiig has also recently signed on to appear in SNL castmate Casey Wilson’s upcoming 2011 comedy Ass Backwards.

In December 2008, Wiig was featured in Entertainment Weekly's list of 15 Great Performances for her various impersonations on Saturday Night Live and in April 2009, Wiig was featured in EW's list of the 25 Funniest Women in Hollywood.

On July 16, 2009, Wiig was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on Saturday Night Live.

On December 17, 2009, Wiig headlined in the holiday special SNL Presents: A Very Gilly Christmas which featured new sketches with Gilly and highlights of old clips.

On April 19, 2010, she co-guest hosted WWE Raw with Ryan Phillippe and Will Forte to promote the film MacGruber.