Kristen Wiig

Kristen Carroll Wiig is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer born on August 22, 1973. She gained wide recognition as a performer with the Los Angeles comedy troupe The Groundlings before achieving stardom on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live (SNL) from 2005 to 2012. During her seven-season tenure on the show, she earned four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

Wiig was born in Canandaigua, New York, to Jon Arne Joseph Wiig and Laurie Day. She grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Rochester, New York, eventually graduating from Brighton High School. After attending Roanoke College, community college, and an outdoor-living program, she enrolled at the University of Arizona as an art major. A requirement to take an acting class led an instructor to suggest she pursue acting, prompting her move to Los Angeles.

In Los Angeles, Wiig performed with the Empty Stage Comedy Theatre and The Groundlings while working odd jobs. In 2003, she appeared as Dr. Pat in the Spike TV reality show spoof The Joe Schmo Show. She submitted an audition tape to Saturday Night Live that featured her Target Lady character, joining the cast during season 31 in November 2005 and becoming a full cast member in 2006.

While on SNL, Wiig appeared in supporting comedy film roles, including Judd Apatow's Knocked Up in 2007 and Paul in 2011. Her major career turning point came in 2011 when she co-wrote and starred in the comedy film Bridesmaids alongside Annie Mumolo. The critical and commercial hit earned her nominations for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.

After leaving Saturday Night Live in 2012, Wiig starred in a variety of dramatic and comedic films. Her feature credits include The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013), The Skeleton Twins (2014), Welcome to Me (2015), The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015), The Martian (2015), Ghostbusters (2016), Downsizing (2017), Mother! (2017), and Wonder Woman 1984 (2020). She also co-wrote and co-starred with Mumolo in the 2021 comedy Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar.

Wiig has extended her career into television and voice acting. She provided character voices for animated film franchises including Despicable Me, How to Train Your Dragon, and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009), as well as Sausage Party (2016) and Masters of the Universe (2026). On television, she voiced Lola Bunny in The Looney Tunes Show, earned an Emmy nomination for the miniseries The Spoils of Babylon (2014), and produced and starred in the comedy-drama series Palm Royale (2024), earning an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

Recognized for her contributions to media, Wiig was named one of Time's 100 most influential people in the world in both 2012 and 2025. In her personal life, she was married to actor Hayes Hargrove from 2005 to 2009. She later married actor Avi Rothman, with whom she had twins via surrogacy in 2020.