Name: Kristen Wiig
Birthdate: August 22, 1973
Birthplace: Canandaigua, New York
Claim to fame: Wiig was known for her many hilarious impressions during her seven-year tenure on SNL (2005-2012). There is no question she will go down as one of the best SNL cast members of all time.
What we can see her in next: Her latest film Welcome to Me releases in theatres on May 1. Wiig plays a woman with borderline personality disorder who wins the lottery, quits her meds and buys herself a talk show on an infomercial channel, where she talks and creates segments exclusively about herself.
Interesting Fact: The night before she was supposed to start a job at a plastic surgery clinic in Tuscon, Arizona, drawing pictures of clients’ post-surgery bodies, Wiig looked in the mirror and asked herself what she really wanted to do with her life. The answer was to move out to LA and give the acting thing a shot. The next day she was gone…and it was only a number of years later before she turned herself into one of the most promising and hilarious up-and-coming comedic actors around.
Best Quote: “I love the rain. It’s my favourite weather.”
Why We Love Her: This week our WCW is Kristen Wiig. Why? Well because funny girls are the real unicorns. There’s nothing more special than a girl that can make you laugh. And not laugh in the kind of way that makes you smile because they look cute when they act silly sometimes, but because they actually have a brilliant and twisted interpretation of everything around them. Kristen Wiig is exactly that kind of woman. She’s wacky, funny, smart, and has been making us laugh for years. Whether it was her impressions on SNL and the weekend update, in Oscar-nominated films such as Bridesmaids, or even just the fact she dances as hard as possible when she gets stressed out, Wig is the full-meal comedy deal. She’s leading the latest wave of women proving that the comedy game is just as much a woman’s game now as it is a man’s.
So where did the funny start for Wiig? Well after studying Art at the University of Arizona, she took a job drawing post-surgery bodies of clients at a plastic surgery clinic. But on the night before she was to start the job she had an epiphany that she was to move out to LA and give the acting thing a full swing. It’s there where she broke into the LA comedy scene with the famous improv comedy troupe, The Groundlings (the same group that Will Ferrell and Maya Rudolph started with). After that came some bit part TV roles, and eventually an opportunity to be on SNL in 2005. Now this is where we call came to know and love her during her time on the famous sketch-comedy show — she received seven Emmy nominations during her time on the show and became inarguably the next big comedy film star. Her full breakout transpired when she co-wrote and starred in the 2011 film Bridesmaids. The movie was both critically and commercial acclaimed, earning Wiig an Oscar-nomination with her co-writer Annie Mumolo for best original screenplay, as well as a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy. The film not only launched her film career, but many others including Rose Byrne and Melissa McCarthy.
Now Wiig has a new movie coming out called Welcome to Me, which is being produced by the comedy team of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay (Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, Anchorman), as well it was announced earlier this year that Wiig will be joining the cast for the Ghostbusters reboot along with her Bridesmaid’s co-star Melissa McCarthy. She’s also in the works of writing a new screenplay with her Bridesmaid’s co-writer, which still remains an untitled project. She also has proven she has the range to go to the dramatic places as well, as seen in the movie Skeleton Twins, which she co-stared with her former SNL castmate Bill Hader.
Wiig’s already hot career is getting even hotter! She does it all: she writes, and she sure can act, but most importantly, she makes us laugh, and laugh a deep gut laugh that makes her completely captivating and charming to watch on screen.
You can catch Wiig in her latest film Welcome to Me, in theatres on May 1.
